Carlie Marie Trent, a 9-year-old girl missing for more than a week, was found in a remote section of east Tennessee by two men who held her suspected captor at gunpoint until police arrived, authorities said Thursday. She was allegedly abducted by her uncle, Gary Thompson, who is now in custody and charged with aggravated kidnapping.
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“Thank God, she was rescued safe”.
“These are just two heroes that just went onto the property to see, by chance, if they [Trent and Simpson] could be there, and they were”.
After an intense eight-day search the pair were discovered yesterday afternoon by friends Roger Carpenter, Donnie Lawson, Stuart Franklin and Larry Hamblen. A TBI spokesperson said Franklin held a gun on Simpson while Lawson got to Carlie and called 911. Two Hawkins County men spotted Carlie and Simpson while riding on their property on Hawkins County, and contacted authorities.
Police say they believe Simpson took the girl out of school on May 4, and may have taken her to a campground or remote area.
TBI said early on that Simpson picked up Carlie from school under “false pretenses”.
“He wanted her and he wanted her all to himself”, Carlie’s father, James Trent, said last week.
“We have prayed, we have walked, we have rode ATVs, we’ve done it all for seven days”, he said.
While it is unknown how long the girl and her uncle were on the property, authorities said they located the van Simpson was last seen driving near their makeshift campsite.
Simpson is now charged with especially aggravated kidnapping.
An Amber Alert had been issued and the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the disappearance the case of the week on its website.
Gary Simpson is in custody at the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office. Carlie was walking around clutching a teddy bear.
Her aunt, Linda Simpson, was waiting for her, along with Carlie’s sister, Katie. I had his name listed on the chart as someone to pick her up. Tennessee Amber Alert Coordinator Margie Quin said that might even be a record number of tips for a seven day period. He said that Carlie’s dad, James Trent, had been in a auto accident and that Carlie would probably not be in school the next day. He said doctors are now examining her to be sure.
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Carlie appeared to be OK but was being taken to a hospital to be checked out.
