02-03-2025
2 charged in abduction of Spring Lake girl
LILLINGTON — A 15-year-old Spring Lake girl who was abducted on Tuesday, Feb. 25, was later found in Kitty Hawk and two men were arrested on Thursday.
According to a release from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Austyn Lee Cole, 23, of Kitty Hawk, and Elihue Martin Mahler of Virginia Beach, Va., were arrested without incident.
The girl's mother reported that Azalea Strifler went missing from her home on Storey Acres Road around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a release from the Harnett County Sheriff's Office. Strifler is a student at Ascend Leadership Academy in Sanford and a member of the Liberty Church youth group in Spring Lake, according to the Daily Record newspaper.
HCSO requested assistance from the NCSBI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Using electronic and other advanced surveillance techniques, agents gathered information indicating that Strifler had been transported to Kitty Hawk and Virginia Beach by two suspects.
Working in collaboration with the Kitty Hawk Police Department, agents recovered Strifler at a residence in Kitty Hawk.
Cole and Mahler are each charged with human trafficking of a child, kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy-human trafficking, all felonies.
They are being held in the Harnett County Jail.
Cole is being held on a $1 million bond, while Mahler is being held on a $1.5 million bond, according to the jail website.
Cole, of 205 Sir Chandler Drive in Kitty Hawk, was arrested at 11 a.m. Thursday by the Dare County Sheriff's Office, according to eCourts.
Mahler, of 1804 Sunrise Drive in Virginia Beach, was also arrested Thursday, although the exact time was not available on eCourts.
SILER CITY GIRL FOUND
The Siler City Police Department reported that another 15-year-old girl, Geydi Liseth Hernandez Fernandez, was found late Thursday.
Prior to her recovery on Feb. 27, Hernandez Fernandez had been last seen by her mother on Feb. 20.
Additional information will be released when appropriate and available, according to the department's Facebook post.
Amber alerts had been issued for both girls.
