JANAKAYE MARIE LEE - 14 yo - Council Bluffs IA/Illinois Alerted

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- The Iowa State Patrol has issued an Amber Alert for a 14-year-old girl from Council Bluffs.
Authorities said Jennakay Marie Lee was last seen at 9 a.m. Monday.It's
believed that Lee is traveling with Steven K. Hecker, 19, who's
suspected of abducting her. The two are traveling in a black 1998
Mitsubishi Eclipse with Iowa license plate No. 532 TLT.



Hecker is white, 5 foot 9 inches and weighs 165 lbs. He was last seen wearing a
black Nebraska sweatshirt, blue jeans and a black ball cap.Lee
is 5 foot 9 inches and weighs about 130 pounds. She was last seen
wearing a white hooded sweatshirt with a gold top, blue jeans and brown
boots.Investigators said Hecker left a suicide note, and is considered armed and dangerous.
Authorities said they might be traveling to Illinois.

An AMBER Alert has been issued for a 14-year-old Council Bluffs girl who authorities say was abducted at 9 a.m. Monday.

Pottawattamie
County Sheriff Jeff Danker said authorities are trying to locate Steven
Hecker, 19. Hecker is believed to be driving a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse
with an Iowa license plate of 532TLT.

Investigators believe the vehicle may be traveling towards Illinois.

Danker
said investigators have issued multiple arrest warrants for Hecker
involving alleged sexual abuse against the 14-year-old girl who is
believed to be traveling with him.

Danker said it is not clear if the girl was “abducted,” or went with Hecker willingly.

“We
know that (Hecker) left his residence and left a note stating that he
was going to harm himself,” Danker said. “We think the girl went with
him voluntarily; the note made no statements about harming her.”

If
anyone locates the vehicle Hecker and the 14-year-old girl are
traveling in, they should contact the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s
Office at (712) 890-2200, or call emergency 911.

Iowa authorities still are searching for a 14-year-old girl they
believe ran away with her 19-year-old boyfriend on Monday, but they are
treating her disappearance as a missing persons case, not an Amber
Alert.Officials had issued an Amber Alert after the Monday
morning disappearance and asked residents to watch for Janakaye Lee and
the black 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse she may have been riding in, worried
about a suicide note left by the boyfriend, Sheriff Jeff Danker said.
By Monday evening, they had called off the alert.Authorities
identified the boyfriend as Steven K. Hecker. The Pottawattamie County
Sheriff's Office on Friday issued three warrants against him:
third-degree sexual abuse, telephone dissemination of obscene material
to a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Before the Amber Alert was issued, authorities said Hecker had spoken with investigators
about turning himself in on allegations related to his relationship
with the underage girl.

“There was no abduction,” said Sgt. Dwayne Riche of the sheriff's office.
Authorities still believe Lee willingly joined the suspect.
“He's made no indication he was going to harm her,” Danker said.

Riche said Lee, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School, acted as though
she was leaving home for school Monday morning, but instead joined
Hecker.

Investigators said Lee and Hecker have been romantically involved since December.

Authorities speculated that the Eclipse might be traveling to Illinois, but that
local residents should remain on the lookout. The car's license plate
numbers could be 532 TLT or 912 SCZ, according to the sheriff's office.

Hecker was last seen wearing a black Nebraska sweatshirt, black baseball cap
and blue jeans, authorities said. Lee last was seen wearing a white
hooded sweatshirt, a gold top with black straps, blue jeans and brown
boots, authorities said.

A 14-year-old Council Bluffs girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend are being sought after the pair disappeared Monday morning.
Authorities are searching for Janakaye Lee, believed to have been abducted by
19-year-old Steven Hecker, also of Council Bluffs. An Amber Alert was
issued during the afternoon and cancelled Monday night, a formality if
a missing child is not located after several hours.


Law enforcement says a suicide note was found at Hecker's residence
and he is considered armed and dangerous.
Steven's father Bryan Hecker found the note, left after Steven learned last week
he would face three felony charges for the consensual relationship he
was having with Lee, too young under Iowa state law for a consensual
sexual relationship with the suspect.
Bryan says his son has no access to weapons and does not believe the girl is in danger.
Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says the girl's parents alerted his office
of the alleged crime. Steven Hecker is wanted for third-degree sexual
abuse, distributing obscene material and exploitation of a minor. The
warrants were issued last Friday.

Steven is described as a white male, 5-foot-9, 160 pounds with brown hair and
blue eyes. He is driving a 1998 black Mitsubishi Eclipse two-door (like
the vehicle pictured) with Iowa license plate number 912SZC. It's not
known exactly where they were going, but it's thought they could be
headed for Illinois.
Lee was last seen wearing a white hoodie, blue jeans and a gold top with black
straps. Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call 911.

Investigators say 19-year-old Steven Hecker of Council Bluffs is
still on the run with his 14-year-old girlfriend. Hecker prompted a
statewide Amber Alert on Monday after authorities say he abducted
JanaKay Lee from her Council Bluffs home. Hecker is wanted on charges
stemming from his relationship with the under-age girl.
Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says Hecker fled with Lee
to an Illinois town near St. Louis. Sheriff Danker says, “We located
them at a relative’s residence in Sorento, Illinois, last night but
they did leave that residence and they didn’t say where they were
going.”
Hecker was charged last week with three felony counts because of his
reportedly consensual, sexual relationship with the girl. Sheriff
Danker says law enforcement partners in the St. Louis area are helping
to search for the couple. Danker says, “We’ve notified authorities in
that area of Illinois and actually posters were placed in a 70-mile
radius around that town.”
They are believed to be driving a black Mitsubishi Eclipse with Iowa
plates, the vehicle that was the subject of the Amber Alert. Danker
says he’s confident they’ll find the two.
Danker says “We’re looking at the computer they had to see if there
was any other contact they had made with anybody else that might
indicate where they’d be going or any type of activity on any credit
card.” A suicide note was reportedly found in Hecker’s home, but
authorities say they don’t believe the girl’s life is in danger.

Two Council Bluffs teenagers
missing since Monday have not been found. The Amber Alert issued for
14-year-old Janakaye Lee, believed to be with her 19-year-old boyfriend
Steven Hecker, has been cancelled, but authorities say that doesn't
mean they are letting up on the search.
Without
any new information in six hours, state guidelines require the
cancellation of an Amber Alert. Law enforcement says they are still
very much investigating. Police thought they might have gotten a break
Monday night when they were alerted the two were staying with Hecker's
relative, but officers arrived too late.


Tuesday,
a mother made a plea for her daughter to come home. "I want her to come
home, we love her, we miss her,” said Shelly Lee.
Just
the thought her daughter brings upon a wave of emotion. "We want you
home. You are not in trouble, please Steven just bring her home. We
want her back. All your friends and family are calling. We're really
concerned.”
Shelly Lee says
she last saw her daughter at 9 a.m. Monday and never saw this coming.
The Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday it's doing
everything it can to find the missing teens, but at this time it
doesn't know where they are.
"We've
done some checking, we've checked bank accounts to see if he's taken
all the money out of it, we have got an individual from the National
Center of Missing and Exploited Children come in and look on the
computer to see if he had indicated on the computer that might show
where he was going,” said Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeffrey Danker.
Janakaye
attended Thomas Jefferson High School. A popular student, the district
says it's doing what it can to cooperate. "Anytime students are coming
forward with information or with concerns, what we're doing is taking
those and sharing those with the sheriff's department,” said Diane
Ostrowski with the Council Bluffs School District.

Despite
a suicide note left by Hecker, the sheriff doesn't believe Janakaye is
in any danger. However, not knowing where her daughter is has caused
Shelly unimaginable pain. "It's been terrible. I don't eat, I don't
sleep, I'm just torn apart.”
The
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is passing out
flyers in a 70-mile radius of the area in Illinois the teens were last
seen. Hecker is driving a black Mitsubishi Eclipse like the one
pictured with Iowa license plates 912 SZC.

After eluding law enforcement for a week, authorities in Illinois
located a 14-year-old Council Bluffs girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend
Sunday.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker said Steven
Hecker and the 14-year-old girl were taken into custody by police
officers in Sparta, Ill., at 6 p.m.

“Both were unharmed and in good condition,” Danker said.

An
AMBER Alert was issued Feb. 22 for the girl, who authorities said
willingly left with Hecker. The AMBER Alert was cancelled later that
same day, but authorities continued their search for the teens.

Hecker
was supposed to turn himself in on warrants for his arrest that
morning. Danker said investigators issued three warrants – third-degree
sexual abuse, telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor
and sexual exploitation of a minor – against Hecker on Feb. 19.

The
warrants are all related to his relationship with the girl. Because the
girl is the subject of a sexual abuse investigation, The Daily
Nonpareil has not identified her by name.

Court documents
indicated investigators talked with the girl and her mother in January.
During the interview, the girl told investigators she was in a
relationship with Hecker.

Hecker was interviewed on the same day
with his grandparents present. During the interview Hecker allegedly
admitted an ongoing relationship with the girl. His grandmother told
investigators that she had knowledge of a ring that Hecker had
purchased for the girl.

During the interview, Hecker said he had tried to end the
relationship and was planning on discontinuing his cell phone service
to discourage future contact with the girl.

On Feb. 9, the
girl’s mother contacted authorities and said she had found a cell phone
her daughter was using. After investigators told her to search through
pictures on the phone, the mother told them she found nude photos of
her daughter and Hecker.

Investigators again interviewed the
girl, who told them Hecker had provided her with the phone and she had
sent nude photos to Hecker and he had sent her nude photos as well.

On Feb. 10, investigators served a search warrant recovered two cell phones from Hecker.

Hecker
allegedly left a suicide note at his home and the girl, a student at
Thomas Jefferson High School, acted as though she was leaving home for
school, but instead joined Hecker.


Authorities
suspected the pair was traveling toward Illinois. A home in Sorento,
Ill., was searched Feb. 22, but Danker said the teens had left before
authorities arrived.

On Sunday, Danker said investigators
received information that the girl had sent a text message to a friend
from a hotel in Sparta, nearly 80 miles south of Sorento. Sparta Police
took the couple into custody.

Danker said it was unclear how long the teens had been at the motel.

Danker
said the girl was taken to a juvenile detention facility where she will
be held until her parents pick her up. Hecker was transported to the
county jail and will await extradition.

“We don’t know what
additional charges will be added yet,” Danker said. “We are waiting for
extradition; once we get (Hecker) back here, there will be additional
charges.”

A Council Bluffs teenager who
ran off with his 14 year old girlfriend is on his way back to
Pottawattamie County.
Nearly a month ago, 14 year old
Jana-Kaye Lee and her 19 year old boyfriend, Steven Hecker went missing.
The two were found a week later in a motel in Sparta, Illinois.


"I
don't eat, don't sleep, that's all I think about is trying to get him
home and getting him through the legal aspects of this," says father,
Bryan Hecker
It's been nearly a month since
Bryan Hecker last saw his son Steven. But the Pottawattamie County
Sheriff says Steven is expected to arrive at the county jail sometime
Tuesday evening. "First thing I'll tell him I love him, I support him
anyway I can, we'll work through this," he says.
It was February 22nd when
authorities issued the amber alert for Hecker and his girlfriend
Jana-Kaye Lee. They were found in an Illinois motel.
Lee has since returned but Hecker
has been locked up in Illinois awaiting extradition. "It's been very
difficult, we knew obviously where he was but that didn't make if any
easier sitting down there, 500 miles from home by himself in a strange
place," says Bryan.
Authorities tell Channel Six,
Hecker faces several charges including 3rd degree sexual abuse. His
father says he wants to see what the courts have to before hiring any
defense. "At this time we have not done any of that. We need to
obviously get him back get him in front of the judge, figure out what
his charges are going to be and go from there," he says.
Hecker says his son is not a bad
kid but made a bad mistake. He adds, he knows it's one is son may have
to spend some time answering for.
Bryan Hecker says he hopes is son
will be allowed to bail out of jail and that they can afford to do so.
There has not been a court date set for Steven Hecker.

A Council Bluffs man wanted on warrants for his relationship with a
14-year-old girl has been returned to Pottawattamie County Jail.

Sheriff
Jeff Danker said Steven Hecker arrived Tuesday after being transferred
from Sparta, Ill.

Hecker was the subject of an Amber Alert on
Feb. 22 after he and his 14-year-old girlfriend left Council Bluffs and
headed for Illinois.

Hecker and the girl were apprehended in
Sparta on Feb. 28. The girl was released to her parents.

Hecker
was supposed to turn himself in on warrants for his arrest on Feb. 22.
Danker said investigators issued three warrants — third-degree sexual
abuse, telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor and sexual
exploitation of a minor — against Hecker on Feb. 19.

The
warrants are all related to his relationship with the 14-year-old girl.