15-year-old abducted from North Carolina is found 500 miles from home, cops say
A 15-year-old girl abducted from her North Carolina home was found about 500 miles away, officials said.
The teenager was learning remotely March 29 when her parents learned of a “suspicious vehicle” in their neighborhood. But when the teen’s parents tried to get in touch with her, they couldn’t find her and reached out to deputies, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
Sgt. David Blake during an April 6 news conference believes the disappearance involved “significant coercion.” The girl reportedly had been using social media, and an investigation pointed to two people in Ohio and a third person in Pennsylvania, officials said.
Then, about week after the teen went missing, she was found safe in Bristol, Pennsylvania, roughly 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. She later was “reunited with her family,” the North Carolina sheriff’s office wrote in a news release.
Now, 28-year-old Elijah Deandre Kennedy faces multiple charges in the teen’s disappearance. Deputies in their news release didn’t share attorney information for him.
Officials also didn’t reveal many details about the case during their news conference, citing an ongoing investigation. But deputies said the “suspicious vehicle” found near the girl’s Silver Valley home traveled north on Interstate 85 and was believed to have out-of-state license plates.
During an investigation that involved federal and state agencies, officials reported discovering that the girl “had been on a chat platform communicating with numerous unknown individuals. The mode of communication was more than likely from a laptop that she was using to do schoolwork, as the family was very vigilant to monitor digital communication as much as possible.”
Kennedy — whose last name was spelled Kenney in a Facebook post — is charged with child abduction and child restraint, both felonies. A federal indictment also is expected, the sheriff’s office told McClatchy News in an email.
The case comes less than a month after deputies said a 13-year-old abducted from Texas was found in a locked outbuilding in Davidson County, North Carolina, McClatchy News reported.
The Silver Valley area is roughly 30 miles southeast of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Teen missing from Texas found locked in building over 1,000 miles away, NC cops say
Kidnappers tied victim to chair with barbed wire, carved crosses in face, NC cops say
