ALLISON DAUGHERTY - 16 yo - Wartburg (W of Knoxville) TN

The Wartburg Police Department has issued a Missing Child Alert for a 16 year-old girl who was last seen late Sunday night.
Allison Daugherty was last seen around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday.


Authorities believe she may be in the company of a white
male with a lengthy criminal history. They added that she may be
traveling in a newer model silver mini-van with a red Tennessee dealer tag.

Allison stands 5' 0", weighs 98 lbs with blonde hair and blue eyes and she has a tattoo of a
cross on her big toe and her nose is pierced.
Anyone with information is asked to call authorities at 423-343-0911 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Amber Alert


An East Tennessee Endangered Child Alert has been activated for the Wartburg Police Department for 16-year-old Allison Daugherty.

Allison is a white female with blue eyes and blond hair. She is 5'0" tall and weighs 98lbs. She has a tattoo of a cross on her left big toe and her nose is pierced. Allison was last seen at 11:00 p.m. on January 2, 2011.

Allison may be in the company of a white male with a lengthy criminal history. She may be traveling in a newer model silver mini-van with a red Tennessee dealer tag.

Call police if you have any information.

An unidentified man is being held for questioning in the
disappearance of a 16-year-old Morgan County girl reported missing
Sunday night.
The man and his vehicle were located today, according to the Wartburg Police Department.
A Morgan County E-911 dispatcher said today authorities could not
disclose details of how or where the man was located or if he is
connected to the girl's disappearance.
Allison Daugherty, of Wartburg, was last seen about 11 p.m. Sunday, according to Wartburg police.
They believed she was in the company of the man being detained for
questioning and asked that an endangered child alert be issued for her.
She is described as a white female, 5 feet tall, approximately 98
pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a cross tattooed on her
left big toe and a nose piercing.
Daugherty and the man were believed to have been traveling in a newer
model, silver minivan with a red Tennessee dealer tag, according to a
Wartburg police press release.
Anyone with information on Daugherty's whereabouts is asked to call
the Morgan County E-911 center at 423-346-0911, ext. 5 or the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

More authorities joining search for missing Morgan County teenager

3:54 PM, Jan 4, 2011


Allison Daugherty

The search for a Morgan County teenager is intensifying, after the man she supposedly left with, has been located.

Allison Daugherty, 16, was last seen Sunday night around 11 pm, January 2nd, at her mother's home at the Sunnyside Apartments on S. Kingston St. in Wartburg. She told her mom she was headed to a friend's house, but never came back.

On Monday, authorities issued an East Tennessee Endangered Child Alert for Allison. They believed she was with a man with a long criminal history, possibly in a silver mini-van. Authorities said she may have been in a relationship with that man.

On Tuesday, investigators said that the man and the van had been located, but Allison was not with them. That man, whose name has not been released, is being questioned. He has not been charged with anything.

Officials say this case is still being treated as a Missing Persons case. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI, and TBI are all now involved in the search.

If you have any information, please contact either the Morgan County E-911 Office at (423) 346-0911 ext. 5 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Authorities expect to bring charges against a man now being
questioned in the Sunday disappearance of a 16-year-old Morgan County
girl, although the search for her continues.

Allison Daugherty was last seen around 11 p.m. Sunday when she left
her mother's Wartburg apartment to walk to a friend's residence.

An East Tennessee Endangered Child Alert initially said the girl
might be in the company of a man, whom authorities did not name, and
traveling in a newer model, silver minivan.

The man and the vehicle were located Monday in Roane County, and he
is in custody on an investigative hold, said Wartburg Police Chief Teddy
Bales.

Police have not yet released the identity of the man, who is not under arrest.

Yet Bales said the man, who is said to have an extensive criminal
history, currently is the only suspect in the case and Bales expects
charges to be filed against him.

"Right now, our first priority is finding her," the police chief said.

Bales added that the girl does not have a history of running away from home.

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Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have joined
in the search for Daugherty. Local police also have consulted with the
FBI on the case as well.

Bales said investigators are following leads that she might be in
Roane County, or that she might have attempted to travel to Ohio.

Daugherty is described as a white female, 5 feet tall, approximately
98 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. She also has a cross tattooed
on her left big toe and a nose piercing.

Anyone with information on Daugherty's whereabouts is asked to call
the Morgan County E-911 center at 423-346-0911, ext. 5 or the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Authorities today said they've made contact with a 16-year-old Morgan County girl reported missing over the weekend.
Wartburg Police Department Chief Teddy Bales said his department
spoke with teenager Allison Daugherty at 1:30 a.m. over the phone.
Daugherty told police Officer Dwyane Bales that she was OK and had not been hurt.
She was last seen around 11 p.m. Sunday when she left her mother's Wartburg apartment to walk to a friend's residence.
"We don't know (her) exact whereabouts, but we feel strongly it was her we talked to," Bales said.
He also said he is certain she has not left the state. Investigators
had been following leads that she might be in Roane County, or that she
might have attempted to travel to Ohio in the company of an older man,
driving a newer model, silver minivan.
The man and the vehicle both were located Monday afternoon in Roane
County. As of this afternoon he was in custody in the Morgan County jail
on an investigative hold.
Charges are pending, Bales said.
Police have not released his identity, but released more details
about the man who they say has an extensive criminal history. Bales said
he lived in the same apartment complex where Daugherty lived for about a year.
The man is currently on state probation, Bales said. He would not say for what.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children have joined in the search for
Daugherty. This morning, Bales said the state ATF is also involved in the case but would not say why.

Investigators in Morgan County says they've spoken to the teenager
who has been missing since Sunday, and she says she does not want to
come home.
According to Wartburg Police Officer Dewayne Bells, officers have
spoken to Allison Daugherty, 16, at least twice on the phone since 11:30
Tuesday night. She did not say where she was, but her cell phone
signal was tracked to Roane County.
She told officers she was okay, but that she did not want to come
home. Authorities are still trying to locate her. Bells says that
anyone who is helping her evade officers could also be charged.
Investigators believe she left home willingly with a 27 year old man
with a long criminal history. The man, whose name has not been
released, was taken into custody Tuesday, but has not been charged.
Bells says there were 680 text messages exchanged between the two
between December 29th and January 3rd.

She's made a bad choice. Next thing she'll be pregnant to the 27 year old criminal boyfriend and we'll be writing about the fate of her children in years to come. Or she could go home, finish her education, get married one day and have a family. I sincerely hope she wakes up and chooses the right path.

Poster's Note: Despite the following story, and TBI's decision to downgrade the case, it will remain here under missing children until such time as she is returned to her home. Not just a call to say I am OK....

The TBI has cancelled an Endangered Child Alert for Allison
Daugherty. Investigators say she has been safely located by law
enforcement authorities in Harriman.

According to Wartburg Police Officer Dewayne Bells, officers have
spoken to Allison Daugherty, 16, at least twice on the phone since 11:30
Tuesday night. She did not say where she was, but her cell phone
signal was tracked to Roane County.
She told officers she was okay, but that she did not want to come
home. Authorities are still trying to locate her. Bells says that
anyone who is helping her evade officers could also be charged.

A 16-year-old Morgan County girl was found unharmed in neighboring
Roane County and returned to her parents Wednesday night, ending a
three-day search for the runaway teen.

Allison Daugherty had contacted police by phone earlier Wednesday to
say she was OK, but did not want to return home after her Sunday night
disappearance triggered an East Tennessee Endangered Child Alert and
prompted an intensive search by local, state and federal agencies.

Police located her at a residence in Harriman, said Wartburg Police Department Officer Dwayne Bales, who led the investigation.

Meanwhile, "serious charges" are pending against a 27-year-old man
whom the teenager is believed to have fled with, Bales said Wednesday
night while Daugherty was being interviewed.

"We're going to talk to her first and see where it goes from there," the officer said.

So far, police have refused to identify the suspect, who they say has
an extensive criminal history and is currently on state probation for
an unspecified conviction. The man lived at the same Wartburg apartment
complex as Daugherty for about a year.

The man was located Monday, also in Roane County, and taken into custody.

Bales said he was able to obtain the girl's cell phone number and had
been monitoring her calls. He also said he'd been reviewing about 600
text messages sent back and forth between Daugherty and the man during
the past two to three days. He would not describe the nature of the
texts.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children all joined in the search for
Daugherty. Wartburg Police Chief Teddy Bales said the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also involved in the case
but would not say why.

At about 3 p.m. Wednesday, however, the Morgan County Sheriff's
Department received a call for a bomb threat. A sheriff's deputy said
someone called a county phone line and claimed a bomb was in one of the
county buildings.

He did not say which one. At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, he said, police dogs were canvassing county buildings.

Dwayne Bales said the call was likely a diversionary tactic.

"We think it was from this," he said. "Someone's trying to draw attention away from this case."

A 27-year-old felon with an extensive criminal history now is charged
with the kidnapping and sexual battery of a Morgan County teenager, who
was found in neighboring Roane County on Wednesday after a three-day
search.

Richard Allen Howard, who lists addresses in both Wartburg and
Harriman, currently is being held in the Morgan County jail on charges
that also include unlawful possession of a weapon as a felon,
solicitation of a minor to observe sexual conduct and contributing to
the delinquency of a minor.

Howard began the inappropriate relationship with his neighbor,
Allison Daugherty, 16, about a month ago, according to warrants filed in
Morgan County General Sessions Court today.

Howard, who has a criminal record in Roane County that included
charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, allegedly
bought a cell phone for the girl. Police later discovered that the two
had exchanged 680 text messages over the course of a few days.

Daugherty’s parents reported her missing from their Wartburg apartment Sunday night, when she allegedly left with Howard.

Authorities located Howard the next day in Roane County. On Wednesday
night, the girl was found in Roane County as well after she had
contacted police by phone to say she was unharmed but did not want to
return home.

“Through officers’ investigation and statements from the juvenile it
was found that the defendant persuaded and coerced the victim to leave
her parents’ house without their knowledge or consent, and took the
juvenile to a house in Harriman that she was unfamiliar with,” the
warrants reads.

“The juvenile’s confinement was a condition of involuntary servitude
in which the defendant told the juvenile that she could not contact
anyone except him or leave the house. During the victim’s confinement at
the house the juvenile was also the victim of sexual battery by the
defendant.”

Daugherty’s disappearance triggered an East Tennessee Endangered
Child Alert and prompted an intensive search by local authorities, along
with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Howard is being held in lieu of $150,000, although a jailer said
tonight that additional charges are pending, including multiple
violations of probation.