Sheriff’s department K9 saves child, tracks missing girl to shed in Tennessee

 

You’ve just got to love man’s best friend. Law enforcement officials in DeKalb County, Tennessee report that a sheriff’s K9 located and helped rescue a 6-year-old girl who had been abducted by her father on May 26.

The child was found by a Rutherford County sheriff’s K9, Fred and his handler Deputy Richard Tidwell.

Fox Carolina said deputies tracked the suspect, Nicholas Reeder and his daughter, Kinzleigh to a home in DeKalb County. Reeder has been charged with child abuse or neglect in the case. He is currently being held on $175,000 bond.

According to DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray, Reeder was tracked to the area of the home, with the deputy and K9 called in where the pair was believed to be located behind a home.

Tidwell obtained an item belonging to Nicholas Reeder and the police bloodhound hit on it, following the scent along a footpath behind the home, finally tracking to an outbuilding.

Once the K9 sniffed the doorknob, he sat down, indicating this was where Reeder was likely to be with his daughter. Deputies made entry to the shed and located the young girl.

We made entry into the building and discovered the suspect and child in the back of the shed behind blankets that were hanging from a makeshift clothesline,” Rutherford County Sheriff’s Sgt. James Holloway said.

Nicholas Reeder was taken into custody, and Kinzleigh was turned over to DeKalb County deputies.

“He licked her face, and she gave him a big hug,” Tidwell said of the interaction between the K9 and the young girl, according to a Facebook post from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

Tidwell said that after the dog found the young girl, he gave him a special treat.

“I praised him and loved on him,” Tidwell said. “I pulled the chicken reward out of my pocket. He ate the chicken and wanted to meet other people as if to say, ‘Look what I’ve done.’”

Sheriff Ray was grateful for the assistance the agency received from various law enforcement partners.

He singled out the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Rutherford County Fire & Rescue, StormPoint Drones, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb EMS, the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who all participated in the search for young Kinzleigh.

Ray said the building where the pair was found was a small outbuilding with poor ventilation that “reeked of ammonia,” Ray said, according to WKRN. He noted that the building had been boarded with metal, and there was little food or water. He said they had been using a five-gallon bucket as a makeshift toilet.

The sheriff said Kinzleigh had been removed from her father’s custody on March 18 after they were found camped out under a bridge while a creek was rising in the area. He was arrested at that time on charges of child abuse and neglect, and the child was placed in temporary custody of a family member.

For some unknown reason, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) allowed Reeder to live in the same household as his daughter.

Despite the fact the child went missing in late May, it wasn’t until nearly a month later, June 21 when DCS found the time to file a missing child report when they were granted custody of Kinzleigh.

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said this was Fred’s first recovery since he joined the department in 2020.

Megan Boswell says she knows who has Evelyn, claims she was afraid to report her missing

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. — UPDATE: The Wilkes County, North Carolina Sheriff's Office says they have arrested two people in connection to the Amber Alert for missing 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell.

The news release says William McCloud and Angela Boswell have been arrested and charged with possession of stolen property. Authorities say the two were found inside of the BMW that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office were searching for in the Boswell investigation.

Both McCloud and Boswell are residents of Tennessee.

No other information was released by the department.

Original Article:

COUNTY, Tenn. — Evelyn Boswell has been missing since December, but she wasn’t reported missing until Tuesday.

News 5 was there when Megan Boswell, who is Evelyn's mother, walked out of a court in Bristol. When she walked outside, she initially wouldn't talk to us. Now, she is speaking with News 5 about the case.

Boswell says she didn’t contact police because she thought the person who took her daughter would disappear.

"Well the reason I didn't report it or anything was I knew the person who had her, and I didn't want them to run away with her," Boswell said. "And as soon as they thought anything was going on they just kinda vanished. So I'm just kinda worried, you know, about where they are at. What they're doing with her at this point in time."

She says that Evelyn was with a person she trusted to watch her daughter while she was at work.

But Boswell says she cannot name names.

"In a way I knew that as soon as anything went down this person was going to disappear and they have. And they have tried to find them... They won't answer phone calls. They just kinda disappeared."

Boswell tells News 5 she'd do things differently if she is given a second chance.

"Yeah I probably would have called the first day. I should have. But I just didn't want them to run with her, like they have now."

In an afternoon press conference, Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said Boswell is involved in the investigation, but he says the information she has given them isn't accurate. Cassidy said some of the things she has told them does not lead up to the information authorities have checked on.

If you have any information on where Evelyn is, contact the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities Bust Child Sex Ring In Maury County

by: Andy Cordan

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – Seven people are behind bars in Maury County and charged in connection with a disturbing sexploitation ring involving children.

Investigators are still looking into the group that allegedly traded graphic images that possibly involve juveniles from Middle Tennessee.

The Maury County Sheriff’s Office, working with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, recently arrested seven people as part of the alleged sexploitation ring.

Investigators identified the group after disturbing images of child sex acts showed up on social media sites and cell phone video.

According to arrest affidavits, members of the gang were reportedly exchanging lewd pictures of children engaged in sex.

Verna Wyatt, Co-Founder of Tennessee Voices for Victims, says this is sadly more common than people know.

“Child sex crimes murder the soul. It’s sickening, but part of a mindset, and once you get into that kind of deviant behavior, it is almost normal to them.”

According to arrest documents, Clinton Shawn Gransden and Michelle Klen were the alleged ring leaders. Investigators identified the 40-year-old Gransden after he reportedly had sex with a child, imagery captured on the cell phones of Jesse Smith, Connie Copley, and Angel Morales Depasquale.

“You know, statistically 1/4 girls and 1/7 boys will be a victim of sex abuse by the time they are age 18 so there’s an epidemic in our country.”

According to affidavits, on Christopher Sayre’s phone, agents reportedly found a video of children engaged in sex who were identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Wyatt says news of the arrest is deeply troubling.

“I was infuriated and disgusted, but unfortunately, I know that this happens all across the country, not just in Tennessee.”

And then there’s Julie May Johnson. According to agents, the 39-year-old exchanged pornographic images of children with the group; images that included a video showing Michelle Klen having sex with a child.

And according to investigators, Julie May Johnson requested pictures of children having sex with animals from other members of the group.

Wyatt says the children have a long road to recovery.

“They will never heal from that, they can recover, but that is something they will never fully heal from.

Missing children in Tennessee: Help bring them home

by Caitlyn Shelton

The Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children released its bulletin of Tennessee's missing children on Tuesday.

The Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children released its bulletin of Tennessee's missing children on Tuesday.

13 children were listed as missing, and more than 12 age-progressed photos were provided for missing children over 18.

Anyone with information on any of the missing children has been urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND or email tipstotbi@tn.gov.

Tennessee's Missing Children

Jocelyn Turcios

Photo: TNCMEC

Jocelyn Turcios

Age missing: 3

Missing since: Oct. 1, 2004

If you have seen Jocelyn, please call the Franklin Police Department at 615-794-2513.

Gage DanielPhoto: TNCMEC

Gage Daniel

Age missing: 7

Missing since: Sept. 28, 2012

If you have seen Gage, please call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Zaylee FryarPhoto: TNCMEC

Zaylee Grace Fryar

Age missing: 4 months

Missing since: May 1, 2011

If you have seen Zaylee, please call the Millersville Police Department at 615-859-2758.

Manilo CastroPhoto: TNCMEC

Manilo Baldimir Pena Castro

Age missing: 1

Missing since: May 28, 2008

If you have seen Manilo, please call the Knoxville Police Department at 865-215-4000.

Carlos SimonPhoto: TNCMEC

Carlos Edwardo Simon

Age missing: 6

Missing since: May 28, 2008

If you have seen Carlos, please call the Knoxville Police Department at 865-215-4000.

Chloie LeverettePhoto: TNCMEC

Chloie Leverette

Age missing: 9

Missing since: Sept. 28, 2012

If you have seen Chloie, please call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Eva LopezPhoto: TNCMEC

Eva Alejandra Lopez

Age missing: 15

Missing since: Sept. 22, 2015

If you have seen Eva, please call the Winchester Police Department at 931-967-2331.

Juan Moreno Photo: TNCMEC

Juan Rosales Moreno

Age missing: 17

Missing since: March 12, 2017

If you have seen Juan, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600.

Ana LorenzoPhoto: TNCMEC

Ana Sebastian Lorenzo

Age missing: 15

Missing since: August 7, 2016

If you have seen Ana, please call the Lewisburg Police Department at 931-359-4044.

Leyla Mariscal Photo: TNCMEC

Leyla Nataly Preciado Mariscal

Age missing: 9

Missing since: March 25, 2017

If you have seen Leyla, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600.

Dereille LarkinPhoto: TNCMEC

Dereille Larkin

Age missing: 16

Missing since: Oct. 2, 2017

If you have seen Dereille, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600.

Brandon Hensley Photo: TNCMEC

Brandon Hensley

Age missing: 15

Missing since: Sept. 16, 2018

If you have seen Brandon, please call the White County Sheriff's Office at 931-836-2700.

Maryui Carrillo Photo: TNCMEC

Maryui Carrillo

Age missing: 14

Missing since: March 8, 2019

If you have seen Maryui, please call the Pigeon Forge Police Department at 865-453-9063.

Missing Children Over 18

Tabitha Tudors Photo: TNCMEC

Tabitha Tudors

Missing since: April 29, 2003

Tabitha was last seen at her home.

Age at disappearance: 13

Age progressed photo to 24

If you have seen Tabitha, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Charlie Hall Photo: TNCMEC

Charlie Hall III

Missing since: Dec. 31, 1981

Charlie was last seen leaving a girlfriend's house on New Year's Eve.

Age at disappearance: 15

Age progressed photo to 47

If you have seen Charlie, please call Metro Police at 615-862-7635 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Marlena Childress Photo: TNCMEC

Marlena Childress

Missing since: April 16, 1987

Marlena was last seen in her front yard.

Age at disappearance: 4

Age progressed photo to 29 years old

If you have seen Marlena, please call the Union City Police Department at 731-885-1515 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Martha Green Photo: TNCMEC

Martha Leanne Green

Missing since: April 15, 1987

Martha was last seen in her brother's vehicle on Highway 46 in Dickson. According to the Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, her brother went to a gas station and Martha was missing when he returned.

Age at disappearance: 17

Age progressed photo to 40 years old

If you have seen Martha, please call the Dickson County Sheriff's Office at 615-789-4130 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Tonetta Carlisle Photo: TNCMEC

Tonetta Carlisle

Missing since: March 15, 1989

Tonetta became missing while returning home from school.

Age at disappearance: 15

Age progressed photo to 40 years old

If you have seen Tonetta, please call the Chattanooga Police Department at 423-698-2525 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Cayce McDaniel Photo: TNCMEC

Cayce McDaniel

Missing since: August 16, 1996

Cayce was discovered missing from her home.

Age at disappearance: 14

Age progressed photo to 33 years old

If you have seen Cayce, please call Milan Police at 731-686-3309 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Lucy Meadows Photo: TNCMEC

Lucy Rebecca Meadows

Missing since: July 25, 1996

Lucy was last seen in the parking lot of Rivergate Mall in Goodlettsville.

Age at disappearance: 3

Age progressed photo to 20 years old

If you have seen Lucy, please call Goodlettsville Police at 615-851-2236 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

China Videon Photo: TNCMEC

China Videon

Missing since: Oct. 19, 1999

According to the Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, China's car was found abandoned in Nashville in June 2000, and she may have been in the company of a man. 

Age at disappearance: 16

Age progressed photo to 28 years old

If you have seen China, please call the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office at 615-898-7770 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Lakisha Jones Photo: TNCMEC

Lakisha Danielle Jones

Missing since: Dec. 14, 1999

Age at disappearance: 15

Age progressed photo to 32 years old

According to the Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, Lakisha has a scar under her left eye and a tattoo of 'C47' on her right thigh. 

If you have seen Lakisha, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Bethany Markowski Photo: TNCMEC

Bethany Leanne Markowski

Missing since: March 4, 2001

Bethany was last seen by her father at Old Hickory Mall in Jackson.

Age at disappearance: 11

Age progressed photo to 23 years old.

If you have seen Bethany, please call TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Kristina Branum Photo: TNCMEC

Kristina Branum

Missing since: July 27, 2006

According to the Tennessee Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, Kristina may be with a man named Christopher. Their vehicle was found abandoned in Lawrence County on August 1, 2006.

Age at disappearance: 17

Age progressed photo to 21 years old.

If you have seen Kristina, please call the Hardin County Sheriff's Office at 731-925-3377 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Oscar Campos Photo: TNCMEC

Oscar Alexander Campos

Missing since: April 19, 2008

Oscar was last seen wearing a light blue shirt, black jeans and had his hair styled in a purple Mohawk.

Age at disappearance: 16

Age progressed photo to 22 years old

If you have seen Oscar, please call Metro Police at 615-862-8600 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Devin Bond Photo: TNCMEC

Devin Bond

Missing since: March 30, 2017

Devin was last seen in Murfreesboro.

Age at disappearance: 17

If you have seen Devin, please call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

UPDATE - Savannah Pruitt, a missing 14-year-old from Tennessee, has been found safe in Wisconsin

UPDATE - Savannah Pruitt, a missing 14-year-old from Tennessee, has been found safe in Wisconsin 18 days after she was last seen, according to ABC News.  

At this point, there is no word on where in Wisconsin she was found.  Pruitt was last seen at her home in Madisonville, TN on January 13.  WATE-TV reports Pruitt’s adoptive father, Randall Pruitt, has been arrested and charged with rape. The local sheriff’s office was not able to provide any other details, including the circumstances of Randall Pruitt’s arrest.

MONROE COUNTY, Tenn. (ABC News) - Two weeks into an expanding search for a missing 14-year old girl from Tennessee, federal and local authorities are seeking public assistance, and her devastated parents are using visceral metaphors to describe the depths of their agony and plead for the public's help as the days Savannah Leigh Pruitt has been gone accumulate.

"It's like having your soul ripped out of your body," Randall Pruitt said at a press conference with authorities on Friday. "You can't think, you can't eat, you can't sleep, you can't rest -- life has just ceased for us since she left."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has joined the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to search for the missing teen, who was last seen at her home in Madisonville, Tennessee on Jan. 13, according to the FBI and local authorities.

"At this point in time, we truly need the eyes and ears of the community," a MCSO detective said Friday, according to ABC Knoxville affiliate WATE.

The Pruitt family had just moved back to Madisonville from Lawrenceville, Ga. in late December, according to Randall Pruitt, who opened up about his daughter alongside his wife, Savannah's mother, Christina Pruitt, on Friday, WATE reported.

Savannah loves horses, her pet raccoon and other family farm animals, her parents said on Friday, WATE reported, noting that the only time the girl's parents managed to crack a smile through tears was when they talked about their daughter's love for the family farm.

"We're very heartbroken," Christina Pruitt said Friday of the oldest of her four children. "I miss her. I don't understand...none of us understand."

"We love her dearly and we want her home -- I love you, and come home," the Pruitt parents said, finishing each other's sentences, according to WATE.

“We are asking for public assistance in finding Savannah Leigh Pruitt,” Sheriff Tommy Jones said in the post. "If anyone has information as to the whereabouts of Miss Pruitt, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 423-442-3911 (423-442-HELP) or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.”

A dispatcher at the Monroe Sheriff's office told ABC News the detective was not immediately available to talk about the case, but the FBI confirmed the agency's involvement in the case in a press release this week.

Pruitt is 5 feet and 3 inches, 110 pounds and has blonde hair and blue eyes.

"She may have traveled to the Corbin KY area,' the MCSO's Facebook post said.

Mid-South mother and toddler reported missing:

Mid-South mother and toddler reported missing

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A Memphis mother and her toddler son have been reported missing. Uylanda Holliman left her home on Valley Glen Drive last Friday with her 2-year-old son Nickolas Holliman.
They were seen leaving around 9 p.m. in her black 2010 Chevy Aveo with the Tenn. tags 171YSL. They have not been seen since then, and her family has not heard from her.
The mother is 5'1" and weighs, 167 pounds. She has black hair, brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt, blue sweatshirt, and jeans.
Her son Nickolas has black hair, brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a blue jacket with yellow stripes.
If you have seen them, or have any helpful information, please call The Memphis Police (901) 545-2677 or the Missing Persons Bureau (901) 636-4479.
Copyright 2012 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

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Vigil held for missing children:

Vigil held for missing children:

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - A candlelight vigil was held for two missing children who vanished two weeks ago during a deadly house fire in Bedford County.
Sunday night, family and community members joined hands in prayer, hoping the children will return home safely.
"The last couple of weeks have been a trying time with the tragedy that's happened and not knowing the answers to a lot of questions," said Ronnie Grooms, Pastor, Rover Baptist Church.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued and Amber Alert after 9-year old Chloie Leverette and 7-year-old Gage Daniel disappeared.
Investigators found their grandparents' remains, but no sign of the children inside the home near Unionville.
If you have any information concerning the children, please contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Copyright 2012 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

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