News

Actions

FOUND SAFE: Missing Florida girl located in Tennessee

Posted
and last updated

Rebecca Lewis has been found in Memphis, TN. 

Memphis police say the she was inside the car when police pulled it over near Baptist East Hospital, according to WMC-TV in Memphis. 

--------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: Laurel Sheriff's Office in Kentucky says that the suspect vehicle may have been spotted by a motorist at exit 25 along I-75 in northern Whitley County at approximately 11 a.m. on Monday morning. Deputies are looking for the vehicle. 

---------------------------------------------------------

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on 4-year-old Florida girl who authorities say was taken from her home by a family friend (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

A man sought following the disappearance of a girl from her home in Florida was once arrested near his home in southeast Alabama.

The Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office says 31-year-old West Wild Hogs of Seale, Alabama, was originally known as Matthew Clark Pybus. He legally changed his name to Hogs.

Court records in Russell County, Alabama, show the man went by Pybus when he was arrested in December 2007 on a charge of disorderly conduct following a fight or threatening behavior that occurred a few days earlier. He lived in Phenix City at the time.

Records show the charge was dismissed the next month at the request of prosecutors.

Authorities in several states are searching for 4-year-old Rebecca Lewis, who a central Florida sheriff says was taken from her home by the man. Authorities describe Hogs as a longtime friend of the girl's family.

___


10:50 a.m.

Authorities in several states are searching for a 4-year-old central Florida girl who a sheriff says was taken from her home by a longtime friend of her family.

Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida, said at a news conference Monday that a 31-year-old man who legally changed his name to West Wild Hogs took Rebecca Lewis on Saturday morning.

"Here's a message for West Wild Hogs: don't you hurt that baby," Judd said. "You keep her safe."

Earlier, Judd pleaded with the public to help search for the girl. The sheriff says he's "not above a bunch of good ol' boys grabbing that 4-year-old girl."

Judd says Hogs is a friend of Rebecca's family but said he'd been asked to leave the family's home over two years ago after pulling a gun on them.

Hogs and the girl were spotted at a gas station in Georgia on Saturday, he said, adding a park ranger reported seeing them in Tennessee on Sunday night.

An Amber Alert was issued.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

POLK COUNTY, Fla - A frantic search is underway right now for a missing 4-year-old girl from Polk County who has been spotted in Kentucky early Monday.

Deputies told ABC Action News, Rebecca Lewis was snatched from her Lakeland home at the Lazy Dazy mobile home park over the weekend. Lewis was taken by a man known to the family.

Monday morning, ABC Action News got information that the two were spotted at a state park near the Tennessee - Kentucky border, headed north on I-75.

This is the second time they've been spotted since that Amber Alert went out over the weekend.

Saturday, surveillance footage captured 4-year-old Rebecca Lewis and a man named West Wild Hogs filling up at a gas station in Forsythe, Georgia. She appeared to be in good health.

Investigators told ABC Action News that Hogs is an old family friend who just showed up at the family's home this weekend. He was apparently visiting from in Seale, Alabama.

Hogs is 31-years-old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 220 pounds, with red hair, and blue-green eyes. He has a scar on the left side of his head in the shape of the letter "L" and a tattoo of a blue cross and a Chinese symbol.

"If you're out there, and you are with Becky, please call me.  Tell me where to come get her. I love you, baby. Just bring my baby back home to us," said Lewis.

If you see Rebecca Lewis or Wild West Hogs, call 911 immediately.

Rebecca Lewis and West Wild Hogs are believed to be in a stolen 2012 gray Nissan Versa with Alabama handicapped license plate 4JL26.

Anyone with information in relation to the Amber Alert is asked to contact the Polk County Seriff's Office at 863-298-6200.