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Pregnant 12-year-old, sister are found safe
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Published: September 30, 2009
Updated: 09/30/2009 06:03 pm
Two Mooresville sisters who have been missing for a week were found Wednesday morning in central Tennessee and are OK, according to Iredell County authorities.
The Iredell County Sheriff's Office says one of the girls, 12-year-old Keara Hess, had not given birth to her baby. Keara is nearly nine months pregnant, and authorities had feared for her health and that of the baby.
The sheriff's office says Matthew Hess, the adoptive father of Keara and her 11-year-old sister Sierra, will be charged in the case and returned to Iredell County for legal proceedings.
Lt. Julie Gibson of the Iredell County Sheriff's Office said the father, who was a legal guardian of the sisters, will be charged with misdemeanor child neglect and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The sisters and Matthew Hess were found in Smith County, Tenn., about 50 miles east of Nashville, during a morning traffic stop, according to officials in Iredell and Smith counties. Matthew Hess was driving the faded green 1993 Ford Explorer that police had been seeking for several days.
A woman driving on Interstate 40 in Putnam County, Tennessee, saw the vehicle at about 8:45 a.m., according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
She recognized the Ford from an Amber Alert, and called state troopers on her cell phone.
They pulled over Hess a few minutes after 9 a.m. and arrested him, officials said.
Gibson said the two girls have been taken to a hospital in Tennessee for a checkup.
Authorities had issued an Amber Alert on Tuesday evening for the two girls. The girls were last seen last Wednesday. Police say Hess left a note with his estranged wife, Jeanette Hess, saying he was taking Sierra to school on Thursday. Jeanette Hess contacted police when Keara failed to show for a doctor's appointment last week.
In issuing the Amber Alert, police listed Tennessee as one of the places where Matthew Hess might have been taking the two girls.
Public records indicate Hess had previously lived there, and his wife told police that Hess had friends in the area.
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