Official: 2 arrested in girl's kidnapping

LUXORA - Two people were arrested in Pierce County, Washington after police said they traveled over 2,000 miles with a kidnapped 18-year-old autistic girl.

Scott Ellington, prosecuting attorney for the 2nd Judicial District, and Mississippi County Sheriff Dale Cook announced the safe return of Ashton Talley in a news conference Friday night.

Ellington and Cook said Talley was recovered in Washington, after Cook's investigators developed information leading to her location.

A 56-year-old man and 28-year-old woman were arrested and face charges of kidnapping of an incompetent person in connection to the disappearance of the teenager.

Talley, a special needs person, disappeared from her home in Mississippi County at about 7:30 p.m.Feb. 16 at her home on Arkansas 312 just outside the Blytheville city limits, Cook previously told The Sun.

Talley received a text from a Washington phone number shortly after 3 a.m.Feb. 17, and she responded to that text a minute after receiving it, according to a previous news release from the sheriff's office. Talley was discovered missing just before 4 a.m.

False leads about Talley possibly being in Cape Girardeau, Mo., came at the beginning of the investigation, Cook said.

Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said in a news release their department received a request for assistance on Feb. 22 from Mississippi County.

Through further investigation, Mississippi County detectives were able to determine that the victim had been contacted online by a 50-year-old man from the Eatonville area, who reportedly tried to befriend over 8,000 other children via social media.

Pierce County detectives learned, in the days before Talley disappeared, the male suspect had flown from Washington to Tennessee with an adult female companion.

Troyer said the suspects reportedly rented a vehicle using fake identification, then drove to the girl's residence in Arkansas where they lured or abducted Talley, possibly with a sexual motivation.

Once Pierce County learned about the kidnapping they developed a plan, and at 4:55 p.m. Thursday, multiple officers knocked on the door of the residence.

"Deputies observed surveillance cameras on the house and could hear noises inside, but despite their commands, there was no answer at the door," Troyer said. "As the team began to contemplate forcing entry to the residence, at 5:02 p.m. The suspects opened the doors and were taken into custody. The kidnap victim was located safe inside the house, and the male suspect's 14-year-old son was also located safe inside the house."

The suspects are currently awaiting extradition to Arkansas.

Agents with the Washington and Texas divisions of the Federal Bureau of Investigations arranged and provided airfare for Ashton's return from Washington to the Memphis International Airport.

The prosecutor and sheriff praised the national multi-agency investigation. Nearly 20 different law enforcement agencies partnered together in the investigation, Ellington said.

Ellington also warned parents to monitor their children's social media after recovering the second missing juvenile in Northeast Arkansas in less than a month.

The prosecutor told The Sun the suspects used Facebook as a method to contact the victim.