KITTY HAWK, N.C. — A missing 15-year-old girl who Harnett County, N.C. officials issued an AMBER Alert for was found safely in Kitty Hawk Thursday, according to the Currituck County Sheriff's Office. Now, two men — one from Virginia Beach and one from the Outer Banks — are facing charges in connection to her disappearance.
The Harnett County Sheriff's Office issued the AMBER Alert for the girl around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The county is located between Raleigh and Fayetteville. That's over 200 miles from Kitty Hawk, where authorities eventually found her.
On Thursday, officials had probable cause connecting Austyn Cole, a 23-year-old from Kitty Hawk, to the girl's disappearance. Around 6 a.m., the Currituck County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team executed a search warrant in the area of Poor Ridge Road, where they took Cole into custody. However, they did not find the girl there.
The sheriff's office says they later identified a second suspect: Elihue Mahler, a 31-year-old from Virginia Beach. The sheriff's office learned Mahler would be driving to the area of Poor Ridge Road that day.
When the car Mahler was driving was spotted in the area, the sheriff's office says its SWAT Team executed a vehicle takedown. During the operation, the girl was found safe and Mahler was taken into custody.
Cole and Mahler are facing charges in connection to the kidnapping and trafficking of the girl, the sheriff's office says. Both were placed on a $1 million bond.
