5-hour Morgan manhunt ends with accused abductor in custody, teenage girl with parents

Michael Wetzel, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·2 min read

May 27—MORGAN CITY — A five-hour manhunt in northeast Morgan County ended about 5 p.m. Wednesday when tracking dogs forced an alleged male abductor from a wooded area and allowed a teenage girl to flee from him before he was taken into custody, authorities said.

Adam Dexter Wilson, 36, was apprehended without a struggle and could face felony kidnapping and endangering a child charges, according to Morgan County sheriff's spokesman Mike Swafford.

He said the girl fled from the suspect when they appeared near the tree line behind the Brindlee Mountain Baptist Church on U.S. 231. She was uninjured and returned to her parents, he said. An Amber alert for the girl was sent out about 30 minutes before Wilson was captured.

Swafford said his department received a call about 12:10 p.m. that the girl had been abducted at gunpoint in her home in the 200 block of Prince Circle. He said the victim's father and sister were in the home when Wilson entered.

"Thankfully, the 16-year-old juvenile is out of harm's way," Swafford said. "Wilson has been Mirandized and will spend the night in the Morgan County Jail. We will continue to put the pieces together."

He said Wilson and the girl were acquaintances.

Helicopters owned by the Cullman Police Department and the state troopers circled the search area and three tracking beagles from the Limestone Correctional Facility joined the search about 2:30 p.m., Swafford said.

When helicopters had to refuel, the Morgan County Sheriff's Office continued the aerial search with drones.

Swafford said Huntsville police, the Marshall County Sheriff's Department and Lifeguard Ambulance Service assisted at the scene. A Morgan County investigator was treated for heat exhaustion, Swafford said.

He said the search area of about a mile was heavily wooded with steep terrain and caves.

"When they came out of the woods they were hot and exhausted but OK," he said.

A neighbor along Water Tower Loop Road, Jocasta Walker, said nothing like this has happened in her 21 years living in the community.

"We've had some drug problems around here but nothing this bad," Walker said. "This hurts me to think about what is going on. The sheriff's deputy told us we were not in any immediate danger. This is just not normal."

— mike.wetzel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442. Twitter @DD_Wetzel.