Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Department, Officers Recognized For Work On Kidnapping Case
Lawrenceburg Police Chief Judy Moore has received a letter from U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation officials commending her department, as well as several individual officers, for their outstanding work in a recent non-custodial kidnapping case.
Six year old Ashlyn Young was taken by her non-custodial mother from David Crockett Elementary School on September 8. Within about sixteen hours authorities had located the girl in Mississippi and she was returned to the custody of her grandmother.
Mother Amanda Young was incarcerated on various charges related to the three-state (including Alabama) investigation.
Moore read a letter of commendation to members of the Lawrenceburg Board of Mayor and Council during a meeting Monday morning. It reads as follows:
“The Memphis Division of the FBI would like to commend the Lawrenceburg Police Department for their recent investigation of the non-custodial kidnapping of Ashlynn Tae Young.
“On September 8, 2014, Ashlynn Tae Young, a six year old child, was taken from her elementary school in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee by a non-custodial parent and two unknown male individuals. Amanda Young was developed as a person of interest and found to be living near Mobile, Alabama.
A significant investigative development occurred leading to your department seeking and obtaining an arrest warrant for Amanda Young.
Through the cooperative efforts of your department, agents of the FBI were able to apprehend Young and safely recover Ashlynn near Lucedale, MS.
“The Memphis Division would like to specifically commend Detective Michael Reeves, Captain Don Laws, Sergeant John Sanders, IT Specialist Shelton Barnett, Detective Brian Hagen, Detective Brent Hunter, Detective Blake Arnold, and Officer Jason Lee of your department for their professionalism and diligence in addressing this investigative matter.”
Moore added her own accolades, saying, “I was there and I can tell you that there was no down-time throughout that day. Within thirty to forty minutes we had a Homeland Security person here. A short time later we had TBI, FBI, and they worked diligently throughout the day.
They were in contact with the District Attorney who had them go ahead and get a warrant. As things developed throughout the day they had to get a search warrant for the FBI so they could do their part, because she was going into other states.
They even had to go to Martin Methodist College and get one of the circuit judges out of a class that he was teaching to sign the warrant.
“They took this very, very seriously, and I’d like to say that I could not be prouder of them. To find her in that length of time, and going into two different states, I think that this could not have been done better.”
Mayor Keith Durham added, “I’m proud of the department and of its leadership…It’s comforting to know that we have that type of ability right here in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.”
