WELLS COUNTY, Ind. — The Wells County Sherriff's Department and the Iowa County Sheriff's Department from Wisconsin announced three people were taken into custody after they were found with a missing 11-year-old girl from northern Indiana.
According to a joint release from the WCSD and ICSD, on Dec. 30, 2023, an Indiana Silver Alert was issued for a missing child from Markle, Indiana.
After the Silver Alert was issued, the Iowa County Communications Center in Wisconsin received a tip that the vehicle listed in the Silver Alert was spotted at a Kwik Trip gas station in Barneveld, Wisconsin.
The release states that ICSD officers were told the vehicle's occupants were possibly armed. As officers made their way to the Kwik Trip, they were later notified the vehicle had left and was seen traveling to the town of Dodgeville, where police were dispatched and initiated a traffic stop after locating the vehicle.
Police safely removed the 11-year-old from the vehicle and took three adults into custody.
According to the Iowa County Sheriff's Department, the arrestees were a 27-year-old man, 23-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man all from South Dakota. All three had warrants for kidnapping of a minor in Wells County, Indiana.
"I can't thank everyone enough," Iowa County Sheriff Michael W. Peterson said. "Being out there with this great group of professionals, watching all these agencies come together, taking these three adults into custody quickly, and removing this 11-year-old female from this situation so she can return to her family is an amazing feeling."