Amber Alert Issued For Tennessee Teen Hayleigh Wilson, Last Seen With Sex Offender
An Amber Alert has been issued for a Tennessee teen who was last seen with a sex offender.
According to WBTV, 14-year-old Hayleigh Wilson was last seen at a Walmart in Marion, North Carolina, on Tuesday, June 23, after leaving her home in Surgoinsville, Tennessee, around 10 p.m. on Monday, June 22.
Wilson was seen at the time with 41-year-old sex offender Benjamin “Ben” Shook, from Georgia, who is wanted for failing to register as an offender. Shook was previously convicted of child molestation in Georgia in 2004, and is listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry as an “absconder,” Times News reports. He is currently out on parole, with ten years left on his 2004 sentence.
Surgoinsville police chief James Hammonds said that Hayleigh met Ben online. She then allegedly stole her step-dad’s vehicle and met him at an undisclosed location. They were caught on video together when Hayleigh tried to use her step-father’s credit card at the Marion, North Carolina, Walmart.
AMBER ALERT: Authorities believe Wilson & Shook may be in a ’04 Ford Explorer, TN tag D6020D http://t.co/anQAtTMaVS pic.twitter.com/aZl74UP1F3
— WBIR Channel 10 (@wbir) June 24, 2015
In the video, Ben is seen wearing a blue shirt with “Ford” written on it, dark shorts, and a camouflage baseball hat. He also has multiple tattoos, brown hair, blue eyes, and stands six foot, three inches tall. Hayleigh was last seen wearing a sleeveless flowery top with a dark colored shorts (or skirt) and boots. She is described as being five foot, five inches tall and weighs approximately 150 pounds. She also has dark hair and hazel eyes.
UPDATE: Amber Alert issued for 14 year old girl, last seen at a Walmart in North Carolina: http://t.co/gcJR8jakWT pic.twitter.com/JT4zMnpBo3
— Local 8 News (@wvlt) June 24, 2015
The pair may be traveling in a maroon 2004 Ford Explorer, with the Tennessee license plate D60-20D.
Anyone with any information on the pair’s whereabouts are being asked to contact the Surgionsville Police Department at 423-272-7121 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
[Photo via Screenshot]