27-02-2025
2 charged with human trafficking in connection to Spring Lake teen found in Dare County
LILLINGTON, N.C. (WNCN) — The Harnett County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that two people were arrested after a 15-year-old girl was found following a statewide Amber Alert.
Sheriff Wayne Coats said in a press conference Thursday afternoon that 31-year-old Elihue Martin Mahler and 23-year-old Austyn Lee Cole were arrested in connection to this incident.
They have both been charged with the following:
felony human trafficking of a child victim
felony kidnapping
felony conspiracy to kidnap
felony conspiracy human trafficking
On Tuesday, deputies with the Harnett County Sheriff's Office responded to a home on Storey Acres Road in Spring Lake around 7:28 a.m. The teen's mother stated she had last seen her daughter around 6 a.m.
Missing Harnett County teen girl found, sheriff's office says; Amber Alert canceled
According to emergency radio traffic, her mother said she was going to get her water bottle out of the car and never came back in. The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons issued an Amber Alert on Wednesday at 10:46 a.m.
Sheriff Coats said that the victim was found early Thursday morning in Dare County. Though she was found with no injuries, the teen was transported to the hospital for an evaluation.
The sheriff said that cellular analysis and social media review were used to locate the teen along with the two suspects.
Philip VanWyngarden with the FBI said that the suspects initially interacted with the teen online. VanWyngarden did not give details of the connection with the victim and the suspects but said that 'no minor goes willingly' in incidents like this.
'Any time you have a minor engaging with a predator online and they do something in the real world, or for that matter they do something online, they're minors. They are victims. They are being manipulated.'
Mauler and Cole are under no bond and will have a first appearance at the Harnett County Courthouse Friday at 9 a.m.
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