Savannah Childress, 14, was reported missing on February 11 from her home in southern Davidson County. During the investigation, it was discovered that she was using the computer provided by the school to chat with an individual online.
The investigation revealed that the same individual was talking to several other girls in Alamance County.
A man identified as William Robert Ice of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, removed Savannah from his home in Denton, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office obtained a first-degree kidnapping warrant and a computer request for a child.
With help from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, the United States Police Service and the Pennsylvania State Police, the clues indicated that Ice was in the areas of a McDonalds in County of Lonoke, Arkansas, near I-40.
According to the Arkansas State Police, two police officers recognized a Dodge that corresponded to the case in a McDonald’s parking lot around 8 pm on Saturday. The policemen approached and found two people inside.
The driver, later identified as Ice, 38, obeyed at first, but then pointed a gun at the police and started shooting, according to the Arkansas State Police. A policeman was seriously injured. The second officer responded to the fire when Ice got back in the car and ran away.
An Arkansas state police officer in the area heard the report of the fallen police officer and chased Ice’s car through Lonoke along Arkansas Highway 31 until the Dodge was inoperable in a snow bank. The 14-year-old escaped from the car and was arrested by a police officer. Inside the SUV, Ice was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Ice died in a Little Rock hospital later.
It was discovered that Ice was wanted by the Pennsylvania police in connection with other cases of infant predators.
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Arkansas State Police Special Agents are preparing a file that will be handed over to the Lonoke County District Attorney, who will decide whether a policeman’s use of lethal force is compatible with Arkansas laws.
Savannah returned to her North Carolina home on Sunday.
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