Amber alert issued to a 12-year-old girl that Henry County police say is in extreme danger

Amber alert issued to a 12-year-old girl that Henry County police say is in extreme danger

by

BASSETT, Va. – The Virginia State Police issued an Amber Alert after child abduction authorities said it happened on Friday afternoon.

Allie Michele Broadaway, 12, is believed to be in extreme danger and was reported missing by her family at around 1:45 pm on 2373 Reed Creek Drive in Bassett.

Allie is about 4 feet and 11 inches tall and weighs about 107 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray James Madison University sweatshirt and dark colored wool pants.

Authorities believe she was abducted by a 21-year-old Texas man, Kaleb Christopher Merritt.

Merritt is 1.50 m tall and weighs about 100 kilos, with brown hair and green eyes.

Police believe he is driving a light green Mercury Grand Marquis 2000 with Texas DMP-2294 license plate.

Henry County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Internet Crimes Task Force on Children in Southwest Virginia on Thursday about a complaint about social media messages exchanged between Broadaway and Merritt.

Ads

Investigators found that Merritt attended a 24-hour gym located on Greensboro Road, where they were able to locate him and seize his electronic device for forensic analysis.

Through further investigation, authorities found that Merritt and Allie met in December 2020 on Instagram, where they communicated until Merrit traveled to Virginia in early February 2021 to find her.

Authorities found that Merritt set up a camp in a wooded area behind his home and met with her on several occasions before he used a messaging app to tell her to leave the house.

Henry County sheriff Lane Perry said with what they knew on Thursday, they were not allowed to arrest Merritt.

“We checked. We went all the way, but there was simply no probable cause at the time,” said Perry. “We are just trying to protect ourselves against everything we can.”

Below is an interview that 10 reporter Shayne Dwyer did with Henry Lane Perry County Sheriff on Friday night about Allie’s abduction:

Ads

Authorities believe that, after being coerced to leave her home, she was arrested by Merritt and has not been seen since.

Perry said that although Allie may have voluntarily gone with Merritt, she is still a minor, so authorities are treating this as a case of child abduction.

Anyone with information should contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 276-638-8751.

Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 – All rights reserved.

.Source