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Last updated on Monday, March 24, 2014
(BLOOMFIELD) - A missing 13-year-old Linton girl was located and a 29-year-old Bloomington man is in jail after he transported her across state lines to Louisville, Ky. late Wednesday night.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Howard Estes late Thursday.
According to Greene County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Major Mike Hasler, multiple law enforcement agencies from several jurisdictions including U.S. Marshals searched for the missing teen.
Police were contacted at 1:38 a.m. Wednesday when the teen's father contacted the sheriff's department and reported his daughter missing. He said she had been having conversations on Facebook with an older male who intended to meet her outside her home and leave with her after the parents were asleep.
Later that morning, the sheriff's department issued a request for information from the public.
Police then received numerous tips that led to finding the teen safe in Louisville and the arrest of Estes.
Estes was apprehended at 11:28 p.m. at the home of his father, after U.S. Marshals and Louisville police found Estes rental car parked near the home.
The girl was found inside the home highly intoxicated. She had a blood-alcohol content of .214 and was taken to Kosair Children's Hospital. She was treated and released to her father.
Estes was arrested and taken to a Kentucky jail on preliminary charges of custodial interference and engaging in an unlawful transaction with a minor. Additional charges are pending.
When he is returned to Greene County he will be charged with child solicitation, a class D felony. His Greene County bond has been set at $25,000 with no ten percent allowed.
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