As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and cops from all over the country desperately searched for a 9-year-old girl that was allegedly kidnapped by her uncle for more than a week, they asked for the public’s help.
Two Second Amendment advocates heard the call, and decided it was time to step up. The men grabbed their weapons, jumped on their all-terrain vehicles and went searching the back country of northeastern Tennessee on Thursday.
They found the little girl, and are being hailed as heroes after they held the uncle accused of abducting her at gunpoint until police arrived, authorities said.
Donnie Lawson and Stewart Franklin found Carlie Marie Trent in Hawkins County, the same rural part of the state she had disappeared from on May 4 after police said her uncle Gary Simpson took her out of school without permission, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said at a news conference.
Lawson and Franklin were acting on law enforcement appeals to search isolated areas on all-terrain vehicles, Gwyn said. Franklin, a Baptist minister, held Simpson at gunpoint while Lawson went to call police.
“This is just two heroes that went onto the property just to see, by chance, could they be there,” Gwyn said. “And they were.”
Gwyn said there were no indications that Carlie was harmed, but she was being taken to a hospital to be examined as a precaution.
“Carlie is safe tonight because of an entire community pulling together and working with law enforcement to bring her home,” Gwyn said. “Anytime someone is taken like this — kidnapped — we know time is not on our side, and we have to act and react very quickly. … Thank God she was rescued safe.”
Simpson, 57, is being charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and may face additional charges, Gwyn said.
Earlier Thursday, the TBI had added Simpson to its Top 10 Most Wanted list and warned that Carlie was in imminent danger.
Simpson is married to the sister of Carlie’s father. The families live close to one another in rural Hawkins County. The uncle and his wife had custody of Carlie and her little sister while their father was jailed on drug charges, but the girls went back to live with their father in 2015, TBI spokesman TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said earlier Thursday. Investigators had not been able to find any work history for Simpson.
Authorities issued the call to check remote areas or campgrounds based on surveillance video showing Simpson stocking up on items from an area Wal-Mart including a bikini, two tubes of colored lip gloss, nail polish, an outdoor chair and a child’s nightgown.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
The Uncle looks just like Gollum ( aka Schmiegel) from Lord of the Rings. That’s an unfortunate look to have.
So….are you sure that she is in better hands with the drug-popping father that just got out of jail…..again?
I’m sure democrats are looking very closely at this to see if charges cab be brought against these 2 hero’s. After all obamas religion allows for sex with children. And yes, EVERYTHING reverts back to obama.
Yes and how unfortunate for the citizens of the USA. Thankfully, (if we can keep Hillary out, it’s coming to an end soon!!
We need to be thinking about keeping the Democrats out, not just Hillary. If she is indicted, or if any Democrat takes her place in the run, we need to make sure America wins and the Democrats don’t.
We need to keep in mind to keep the Democrats out, not just Hillary, no matter who becomes the Democrat nominee. America has to win this one, and we lose if any Democrat wins.
unless they are black – then that calls for a visit to the WH . oh no – that won’t work – they have to be criminals first …. and NO I’m not racist …. but obama is ……………
Agreed.
This action by those two guys prove that guns can save lives. Those who have license to carry guns are sometimes called upon to save some persons from violence when no law officers are present and hold the assailant until relieved (Citizens’ Arrest) by proper police officers.
“”They found the little girl, and are being hailed as heroes after they held the uncle accused of abducting her at gunpoint until police arrived, authorities said. ….. she had disappeared from on May 4 after police said her uncle Gary Simpson took her out of school without permission,””….Once again the bent horn reporters have to act like main steam media and out right lie to make headlines. Read the two above statements and tell me this …is he also being charged with taking a gun onto school grounds? After all the horn states she was abducted at “gunpoint”…when in REALITY she was sent with him when he simply told school officials that her father had been in an accident and the school knew he has permission to do that, but that permission had expired, but the control freak administration let another communication fall under their desk. Who said he was a madman? Maybe he was trying to keep her from harm from a screwed up family? After all he did raise her and her sister for a time.
The Horn article never says she was abducted at gunpoint. This is a creepy story from beginning to end.
If this is a fine upstanding man like you seem to think he is why a bikini and lip gloss isn’t that special
Bad sentence structure, Horn. At least, a couple of commas might help:
…after they held the uncle, accused of abducting her, at gunpoint until police arrived…
That’s the correct use of commas, something we forget in grammar all too often.
Thanks.
Thanks for pointing out the correct use of commas.
Will the two men who found her get the rewards for finding her?
Dee, their reward was when they found her!
If you think they should be rewarded more than that, then you must be voting for Hillary!
I can tell everyone’s IQ here is a mere 60 or 70. This posting was about the rescue of a kidnapped child & you racist, uneducated bastards want to start bringing politics into this.. Next thing we know, this article will become a religious discussion….
Why would he buy lipstick and nightie for a 9 year old and keep her secluded from even his wife?????????????
I think they should have tied his arms behind his back and around his throat with the rope over a tree limb..
Where is the girls’ mother in all this?
No, the Uncle did not do the right thing but I think maybe it was concern for the child that he did it. Think there is a whole lot more to this story and I too wonder about the Mother.
I’m confused. The father was in prison on drug charges. Has anyone bothered to ask why the uncle did what he did? Are they checking out the father to see if he was staying clean or involved in something?
Yea, is this father a fit parent to be parenting this child, I don’t think so , drugs around children,,I don’t think so, not a fit parent to AT all!!
All you people who are against the Second Amendment take note. If these two guys hadn’t been armed, the uncle would probably have gotten away and the girl maybe never found. Guns do serve a purpose and not just in the l=hands of law enforcement. The police can’t be everywhere at all times. Guns in the hands of responsible citizens are a great thing.
Well, I guess my comment about guns saving people and two heros making a Citizens Arrest in saving that little girl is not acceptable on this website.