AVA, Mo. — Two men have been charged after being found in Tennessee with a teenage girl from Ava.
According to online court documents, 22-year-old Zevi Whittingham of West Plains and 19-year-old William Sims of Mammoth Springs, Arkansas are each charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping.
A probable cause statement shows that the 16-year-old girl’s father reported her missing to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) on Jan. 21. He had discovered his daughter’s bedroom window open, and her backpack, clothes and hair straightener were missing.
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The girl’s father told deputies she had been talking with Whittingham, who had told the father he was in a different state for work.
Deputies were able to obtain Whittingham’s cell phone number and locate him, along with the missing girl and Sims, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Authorities in Tennessee took all three into custody until they could be transported back to Missouri.