SANPETE COUNTY, Utah — An AMBER Alert was never issued for the missing 12-year-old girl out of Sanpete County last week, but that doesn't mean this case wasn't a top priority.
Sheriff Jared Buchanan said it was solid police work and a real collaboration between multiple departments, plus the public's help, that helped lead to the discovery of the young girl who they heard was missing Tuesday morning.
"Between 7:00 and 8 in the morning is when law enforcement was notified that a 12-year-old juvenile had went missing. Last seen around midnight," Buchanan told FOX 13 News Monday in his office in Manti.
The girl's family reported that she had run away, taking her grandfather's truck.
"Due to the age of the juvenile involved, we took the case very seriously. The Sanpete County investigations unit, our patrol unit, even me and the captain had gone out searching different locations. We had all hands on deck looking for this juvenile," Buchanan said.
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He explained that they issued what's called an Endangered Missing Juvenile Alert, since the case didn't meet the requirements for an AMBER Alert, and felt like they were able to reach other agencies and members of the public that way.
"The things we did, it was out to the public. The social media was hitting it. The public was looking. We were getting tips from the public. We got a tip from Idaho Department of Public Information that they had an F-150 they had stopped, so we knew the information was out. We also had strong information to believe they were still in the surrounding area," the sheriff said.
According to charging documents released last week by the Sevier County Sheriff's Office (where the missing girl and 20-year-old Aiden Larsen of Moroni were found after a high speed chase), the young girl said the two had been in a relationship. Police could not confirm how they met but said her family had tried to limit any engagement between them.
They were spotted at a gas station in Richfield and officers pursued in a high speed chase. Larsen was driving the stolen truck and went over tire spikes, then crashed through multiple fences at a local RV park, according to police, before then taking off on foot. He was apprehended without serious injury.
Sheriff Buchanan said they've already filed kidnapping under the Utah statute.
"A juvenile under the age of 14, if they are with somebody that’s an adult and they don’t have the permission from the parent or guardian, it does fit the statute," he said.
He said AMBER Alert or not, they were still doing everything law enforcement-wise they would have done to track this young woman down, and it's that work that led to the case being where it is today.
She has since been turned over to her parents' custody as the investigation continues. Larsen is facing evading charges, along with rape and kidnapping, with his first court appearance set for Tuesday in Richfield.
