The 9-year-old Tennessee girl allegedly abducted by her uncle was found safe Thursday after he was captured by two men who held him at gunpoint until law enforcement could arrive.
(FOX)- Carlie Marie Trent was found in Hawkins County, the rural part of East Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Her uncle, Gary Simpson, is in custody, officials said.
Simpson is accused of taking Carlie from her school in Rogersville, Tenn. on May 4.
“Carlie is safe tonight because of an entire community pulling together with law enforcement to bring her home,” Mark Gwyn, Director of the TBI, told reporters at a press conference Thursday evening.
Gwyn said there are no indications that Carlie was harmed, but she is being taken to a hospital as a precaution to be examined.
Gwyn said her safe return came after two men, Donnie Lawson and Roger Carpenter, were checking property as the TBI had asked people to do, when they found Carlie and her uncle on a trail only accessible by four-wheeler vehicles.
Carpenter, a Baptist minister, held Simpson at gunpoint while Lawson called police, according to Gwyn.
“This is a case of two heroes who went on their property to see if, by chance, if they were there, and they were,” he said. “I think this is a clear message to the public that we need your help on these kind of cases.”
Simpson has been arrested and charged with especially aggravated kidnapping.
Earlier Thursday, the TBI had added Simpson, 57, to its Top 10 Most Wanted list and warned that Carlie was in imminent danger.
On Tuesday, Trent’s father said her alleged abductor was obsessed with her and wanted her all to himself.