Police have found a pregnant Wisconsin teenager in Nebraska, who had been missing for two month sand the centerpiece of a multi-state search and AMBER Alert.
On Wednesday night, police took 40-year-old Gary F. Day into custody after locating Sophia Franklin, 17, with him in Sarpy County.
The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska alerted the Beaver Dam Police Department in Wisconsin at around 11:40 p.m. on April 2, and informed Wisconsin officers that they received a tip about a sighting of Sophia near Omaha.
Investigators said that an over-the-road trucker spotted the pair at a Love’s Travel Stop, WISN reports. The truck driver called 911. Deputies found Sophia and assisted her in reuniting with her family,
Day was subsequently arrested.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Sophia was last seen at her home on February 2 at 9 p.m., near 4th and Beaver, in Beaver Dam.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Day, who’s reportedly the father of her unborn child.
Day appeared in court Friday, where he was charged with two counts of transportation of minors and two counts of child enticement causing mental/bodily harm.
“ When law enforcement made contact with the defendant, he provided several fake names,” the prosecution said in court Friday.
Day faces felony charges in Wisconsin and federal charges in Arkansas, his home state. The courts are currently deciding which state will prosecute him first. In a court Friday, Day stated his intention to fight extradition to both states.
This man is a predator,” Sheriff John Staley, of Lonoke County, Arkansas, told WISN 12 News in February. “We’re going to have to figure out how to hold him accountable.”
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Gary Day/Beaver Dam PD]
