Harnett County sheriff speaks about 15-year-old girl found two days after authorities issued an Amber Alert
Good afternoon
Thank you for coming
Um Most probably pretty much know why we're here um
First of all let's let's start out with this
Uh I wanna thank our Lord and Savior for helping
us return this girl safely to her family and the
protection that he gave for all the agents for that
were involved in this uh apprehension of the suspects
So I just want to get that behind us because
I think that's very important um
Or why we're here today or part of the reason
why we're here
Joining me today I got a few folks up here
um FBI director Mr
Chip Hawley
Uh also have with the FBI uh Mr
Phillip
Van Weingartner I got that correct
Our district attorney Suzanne Matthews some members of the sheriff's
office that had worked around the clock on this as
well as the other agencies um
And you know an an operation like this how we
get things accomplished is how we all come together work
together to to make this happen
So it's a blessing for any sheriff or chief of
police to have this kind of support um to help
us because we we can't do it by ourselves and
The results of what happened because of these folks and
the people that work for them
Um we'll start this out
Uh the missing juvenile was located early this morning in
uh Dare County North Carolina by agents with the uh
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation the FBI Kitty Hawk
Police Department Dare County Sheriff's Office and Curry Tuck County
Sheriff's Office
The Virginia Beach Police Department assisted the investigation
The juvenile appeared not to have any injury but was
transported to a local hospital um for evaluation
Um The locating of the juvenile was the result of
an extensive investigation by the above agencies
Each of the participating agencies worked together utilizing their own
but cohesive use of law enforcement tools to further the
investigative process
Key avenues to to success this case relied upon court
approved methods for serial analysis and social media review to
locate the missing juvenile and the suspects
As you may know uh we have arrested two of
the suspects
Um first was Elihu Martin Mahler age 31 black male
from Virginia Beach uh Virginia
He was charged with human trafficking child victim
Felony kidnapping felony conspiracy to kidnap and felony conspiracy human
trafficking
Um also arrested was Austin Lee Cole age 23 white
male of Kitty Hawk North Carolina
Uh his charges were human trafficking child victim felony kidnapping
felony conspiracy to kidnap and felony conspiracy human trafficking
Also ask for your privacy for the family
Now I do have a message from the mother uh
speaking with her you know obviously she's very elated that
her daughter is being returned back this afternoon um and
she wanted to thank all the agencies that were involved
with this um
But at this time I think all of you can
appreciate that she wants her privacy and her family right
now and so I ask that you honor that
Obviously I can't make you do it but just think
about if that was your daughter
So keep that in mind
I know you have a lot of questions you got
a job to do
um also one I failed to answer is some of
the agents here at the sheriff's office you know
I've been up here for the last 2 days and
these this went on all night long
There was agencies they never left
They were right here in this room uh to help
bring this young lady back safely
Um right now what I'd like to do is ask
our district attorney Suzanne Matthews if you'll step up she
may have a few words for you
Thank you Sheriff
Good afternoon
On behalf of the district attorney's office I would like
to commend each agency that played a role in bringing
this investigation to a successful completion
It is a testament to the hard work and dedication
of each detective officer and agent that we're standing here
today reporting a positive outcome for this family
The first appearance for these defendants should occur tomorrow in
Harnet County District Court
Pursuant to statute Bond has not yet been set
Bond will be considered and may be set by the
judge tomorrow during the first appearance
As this case moves through the court system my office
remains committed to seeking justice for all involved parties
Thank you
At this time we'll we'll open it up for some
Q and A
It may be I step back and let the ones
that are involved that are involved with the apprehension side
With that being said uh just got a question
Just the interaction
How did these two first meet the juvenile and the
adult How did it happen OK let uh
FBI so
So as we understand the the subjects in this investigation
uh interacted with the victim in the online space and
as unfortunately we have seen previously in other investigations that
FBI and our partners have worked this ultimately led to
a transition from the online space to the real world
which can obviously be extremely tragic and have significant consequences
Um there was a delay in the Amber Alert going
out
Did that cause any issues for how you all were
able to respond No no sir none whatsoever
Are you able to say I'm sorry
Uh it was not we were already working in at
that time
So as soon as we notified the sheriff notified us
and uh we got together with every all the parties
involved we immediately started our investigation
That was just a mere process for notification for the
public
The technology you guys use to solve the case I
heard cellular and I heard something else
Did you kind of go into that a little bit
Sure I'll let the FBI
So these sorts of investigations the FBI leverages as well
as our partners leverage a number of different capabilities
Each agency brings to bear a specific skill set experiences
technical capabilities but then also it's important to note that
all
these investigations are leveraging and using techniques that are gonna
be court authorized
So it's important to note that while we don't want
to go into the specifics in this case um it
it's worth noting that again leveraging technologies and capabilities across
all these agencies led to this outcome while you're there
um I know that you said that the suspects and
um the victim met in the online
move to reality
What did she go for Individuals was she snatched by
them Yeah so
I don't want to get specifics in this particular investigation
about that
What I will say is that no minor goes willingly
So anytime you've got a minor who's engaging with a
predator online
And they do something in the real world or for
that matter they do something online they are minors
They are victims they're being manipulated
I mean it's worth noting that in general in these
investigations but I wouldn't want to speak specifically to this
one
Speaking about human trafficking charges that are involved here do
you believe that this is isolated or are these two
individuals a part of something bigger Yes so it's a
good question
I think it's worth noting that the efforts over the
last couple of days in this particular investigation have been
driving specifically at the safe return of this victim and
we've achieved that
In the course of the investigation in the course of
that effort all the agencies have developed a lot of
evidence that we will be reviewing and we'll continue to
cover additional leads and continue to conduct additional investigation
To answer those sorts of questions but the investigation while
it has been extremely intense and we've worked very hard
collectively as agencies over the last couple of days there's
a lot of work left to be done
Any idea how the man from Virginia Beach and the
man from Kitty Hawk knew each other how they grow
to be together So right now we're trying to further
identify that
We want to be able to lock that down and
fully understand the nature of their relationship
It is one of many questions we hope to answer
in the coming days in this investigation
History of the two suspects yeah same same thing
So yes sir
I guess message to parents you know this is probably
their worst nightmare to see their little girl be taken
away in this manner especially when you're talking about human
trafficking and that kind of thing
I mean what's your message about monitoring your kids Yeah
so let me speak generally again
I don't want to speak specifically to this investigation but
generally to all the parents out there to all the
children out there
It is important for parents to be engaged in a
meaningful way with their children and how their children are
interacting on the internet
Um that can look like a number of different things
That can be having conversations with your children about who
they're talking with online uh
It could be running through scenarios about the types of
interactions they may find in the online space
It's worth noting our children are extremely technically savvy
Oftentimes maybe more so than we are
What they lack is the world experience and the decision
making skills to understand consequences of these sorts of engagements
They lack the ability to understand the reality that predators
are out there online attempting to victimize them
So I think for parents it's all about the meaningful
engagement that needs to be having conversations with your children
It needs to potentially be looking at the devices with
your children having access to their accounts periodically conducting spot
checks reviewing who they're engaged with who they're talking with
But also it's worth noting that it's not just about
your children
Your children may be aware of other children in the
school who are potentially at risk
Encouraging children to have conversation with their parents about that
if they're aware of another child up here who's at
risk is extremely important to stop this sort of activity
from getting any worse
So again it's it's about engagement from the parents with
the children
Can you elaborate on the importance of working so quickly
in this investigation I mean you guys put out the
uh Amber Alert and already this morning I mean it
was multiple agencies working together
Can you elaborate on that Absolutely
if OK
Absolutely
So I think one of the things that we see
here is an example of one of the biggest strengths
that we can bring to bear collectively is our ability
to work together
I don't think anybody would question that when a situation
like this happens this becomes the absolute priority for every
agency and every one of the agencies that the sheriff
mentioned brought to bear all the resources available to them
from across the state from outside the state
And everything else is dropped so we can work this
It is absolutely critical when we have a missing child
that we are able to locate them and bring them
back safely home as quickly as possible
And was there a key point or just evidence that
helped you target this location of where she was located
Yeah so I don't think we can speak specifically to
that
Again our goal collectively across the agencies was bringing her
safely home
We have a lot of investigative work ahead of us
to understand the nature of again as was
I was asked earlier the relationship of the subjects and
identify any other supporting evidence to help us with the
ultimate prosecution in bringing these subjects to justice
That is surprisingly similar
Amber Alert go out today out in Chatham County in
Siler City
Any reason to believe that it's connected to the case
that we're talking about today So there is no reason
that I'm aware of at this time to believe that
there is any connection between those investigations
It is worth noting that the Siler City Police Department
FBI FBI are standing up a joint command post to
work this investigation
And much like the investigation we're talking about today the
same goal is there for us to safely quickly identify
the location of the victim and bring that victim home
safely
Being part of the I-95 corridor how common is this
And I'm assuming the outcome is not always this
Yeah so it's a good question
I don't think being part of the I-95 corridor necessarily
is is connected to this particular investigation
I think it's worth noting that wherever Children are on
the internet
Predators will find them on the internet
And so we see this across the FBI in our
experience and I'm sure it's the same with the other
agencies as well that is less about geographical location it's
less about the the upbringing of the child you know
are they rural are they in an urban environment
It's about predators going after children in the online space
There are 2 suspects but given child trafficking charges any
chance any thoughts that this may be a much larger
organization No indication at this time of that
However again it's worth repeating that we are in the
early stages of the more thorough investigation to develop that
the evidence that we'll need to answer those sorts of
questions
Could someone possibly just say the names of the suspects
uh or at least provide the spelling feature
Let let me ask Director Holly to step up because
he has information on their criminal history and he can
also give you that their names and the correct spelling
of it
And and also Director Hawley when I contacted him first
it was amazing just like with the FBI how quickly
they responded down here set up the command post and
and
Just got on this and that's another reason we were
able to solve this so quickly and come to a
good as said a good ending not all of them
in like this but I let the holy the holy
speak on that
But they are uh
Of this
Uh the spelling of the first suspect is E L
I H
UE Martin common spelling and M A H L E
R
It's a black male 31 years of age Virginia Beach
Virginia
The 2nd suspect I A U S T Y N
Lee common spelling
Last name C O L E white male 23 years
of age
Kitty Hall North Carolina
Uh the relationship the sheriff just spoke about is is
in is incredible uh being able to have uh the
you know you talk about agencies working together but it's
about having that personal connection with all senior law enforcement
across the state and across the nation
When you're able to make a phone call and then
it pulls everybody together it's just outstanding
I mean it just makes all the difference in the
world and us being able to come together and and
to a positive reso resolution is amazing
I think you have a little
Oh the uh there is a criminal history on the
first suspect the black male
He has been charged before with assault on law enforcement
officer and uh weapons charge and some drug activity
The second suspect uh had some minor uh uh other
criminal charges
Anything Can I get you to say and spell your
first and last name Mike please and your title And
then you have to it
Uh Chip Hawley H A W L E Y director
State Bureau of Investigation SBI
Philip Van Weingarten Assistant Special Agent in Charge FBI North
Carolina
Again thank y'all so much for coming and covering this
story again
It it it's heartfelt for me that we were able
to get this young lady back to her family so
quickly um and hopefully she will be back this afternoon
That's my understanding um and she'll be reunited with her
mother uh later this afternoon
Thank you
So they're not reunited at that time