Teen abducted west of Charlotte found ‘safe and alive,’ 900 miles from home

This story was updated at 8 a.m. on Dec. 2.

A 13-year-old girl who disappeared Monday from a small town west of Charlotte has been found 900 miles away, in Checotah, Oklahoma, reports the FBI.

Aubrey Joelle Acree is safe and her family has been notified the girl will soon return home, said an FBI press release.

She was found just before 11 p.m. Wednesday, with the help of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the FBI.

Jacob Gardea, 23, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, faces charges in North Carolina of abduction of a child, said the FBI, noting the case is still under investigation. Gardea is being held in the McIntosh County jail in Eufaula, and will appear in court Friday, reported the Albuquerque Journal.

TV station News On 6 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, reported the arrest was made at the Americas Best Value Inn, a McIntosh County motel.

Gardea was located after investigators began tracking a vehicle believed to have been used in the abduction, said the FBI.

A witness identified a vehicle of interest — a white Subaru between 2005 and 2007 — which led to the girl’s recovery, the FBI said.

“Law enforcement is grateful to a keen eyewitness who helped begin our investigative process with a strong lead that brought us to this joyful outcome,” said an FBI release.

Investigators from the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Department of Homeland Security, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles assisted in the case, said the FBI.

Acree was reported missing by her mother on Nov. 26. She was last seen near Harris Henrietta Road in Mooresboro, a town about 60 miles west of Charlotte on U.S. 74.

This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 6:59 AM.