CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — The SWAT team in Currituck County, along with Dare County authorities, arrested two men Thursday morning in connection with a girl, 15, missing from Spring Lake in Harnett County, N.C.
2 charged with human trafficking in connection to Spring Lake teen found in Dare County
The girl was the subject of an Amber Alert and was reported missing Tuesday morning. FBI and State Bureau of Investigation agents tied Elihue Mahler, 31 of Virginia Beach, and Austyn Cole, 23 of the Colington Island area of the Outer Banks to the case. They’re charged with human trafficking of a child, kidnapping and conspiracy.
Cole was arrested first in a rural area of Kitty Hawk near Poor Ridge Road about 6 a.m. Thursday. Mahler was arrested less than two hours later in the same area, and the girl was in his vehicle and was recovered safely, according to police.
“I don’t really know that she said or did anything,” said Sgt. Chris Saunders, who runs the Currituck SWAT team. “It was more so overwhelming for her to be in that situation.”…