Sheriff’s deputies, police officers, state and federal agents are searching the woods along the Appalachian Trail for 41-year-old Benjamin Shook.
As Now Habersham reported first on Thursday, Shook was convicted of Child Molestation in Habersham County in 2004 and served 10 years. There is an active warrant for his arrest here after he failed to register as a sex offender and fled to Tennessee last year.
This week, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents say he left their state with a 14-year-old girl he met through the internet.
According to the Amber Alert issued for Hayleigh Wilson, the maroon Ford Explorer they were driving was located in Grayson County, Virginia on Thursday.
The search for Shook covers the wilderness area in Grayson and Smyth counties. Officers from US Fish and Wildlife, US Marshals and Virginia State Police are involved. Officers report thunderstorms in the search area are hampering efforts and increasing their fears for Hayleigh’s safety.
TBI agents say Hayleigh left her home in Surgoinsville, Tennessee Monday night. She was spotted with Shook on surveillance footage at a Wal-Mart some 2 hours away in Marion NC in the early hours of Tuesday.
The truck they were in was found on Thursday. It was abandoned 107 miles from Marion in the Troutdale area of Grayson County, VA. “Investigators determined the vehicle was abandoned Tuesday and learned both subjects received a ride to the Sugar Grove area of Smyth Co,” a Grayson County Sheriff’s spokesperson tweeted Friday.
Officials also released this image of Hayleigh and Shook at a Sugar Grove store taken late on Tuesday.
In addition to the Habersham County child molestation in a case, Shook was convicted of aggravated child molestation in a case from 2002 in Stephens County.
If you have any information on either Wilson or Shook, you should contact your local sheriff’s office immediately or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
