MORGAN SCHUG - 14 yo - Battle Creek MI

Police in Battle Creek have issued an Amber Alert for a missing 14-year-old girl who they believe is in extreme danger.
Morgan Schug's mom says she went out to build a snow man Wednesday night and never came back.
Morgan has hearing and speech impairments and is mentally challenged.
Melissa Fletchers says her 14-year-old daughter was last seen at
about 5:30 Wednesday night, less than half a block from her home.
Morgan is 5 feet one inch tall, she weighs 160 pounds and has brown hair and eyes.
She was last seen wearing a Red Wings jacket, blue jeans and black tennis shoes.
A family friend says she saw Morgan near the corner of West Michigan
Avenue and Dunning avenue in Battle Creek. She says Morgan was talking
to a black male in a white Bonneville.
Her mom says Morgan doesn't know anyone in the area other than family members.
Police are asking anyone with any information on Morgan Schug or the
man she was last seen with to call 911 or Battle Creek Police.

Police in Battle Creek have located a missing girl.
Police were looking for 14 year old Morgan Schug since about 6:00 Wednesday night.



She never came home and didn't show up for school Thursday morning.
Morgan was spotted just a couple of hours ago.
Police are now saying that this is just
the start of a long investigation and they believe she may have been
taken advantage of by a predator.
Morgan Schug was found around 10:00
Thursday morning at the home of an older man. Police are not releasing
that man's name. He is at the police station for questioning at this
time, though no charges have been filed yet.
Police say he has a criminal past and may have been trying to take advantage of the 14-year-old girl.

* * * *

The State of
Michigan canceled the Amber Alert Thursday morning (02-25) after the
girl was found safe at an apartment in Battle Creek. No information on
the suspect is available at this time.


The State of Michigan issued the Amber Alert Thursday morning
(02-25) after the girl was reportedly abducted in Battle Creek late
Wednesday (02-24). The child has the mental capacity of a 2nd or 3rd
grader and is hearing and speech impaired.

An Amber Alert in Calhoun County is over, but the investigation is just getting started.
Police issued an Amber Alert early Thursday morning for a 14-year-old mentally challenged girl from Battle Creek.
News tips helped find the girl eight hours later.
The man that girl was reportedly with
has been identified as 61-year-old Sam Daniel Sanders, who has been in
and out of prison since he was 19.



Sanders is currently being held on third degree criminal sexual conduct charges.
Investigators suspect that Sanders spent
time wearing the victim down, taking advantage of the girl's
disabilities for a month before finally coercing her into his apartment
Wednesday night.
Investigators are also saying that
normally they wouldn't release the identity of a suspect before he was
arraigned, but they are afraid that there may be other victims involved.
“That's our fear, that there has been
some involvement with at least one other girl, similar situation and
acquaintance of the victim that we have,” said Det. Sgt. Todd Madsen of
the Battle Creek Police Department. “Now I'm afraid that there's going
to be a few other people come forward.”
Battle Creek Police say that the
investigation is just beginning and that they could be facing several
days of looking into Sanders' past to try and figure out how many more
victims there could be.
Police say they hope to arraign Sanders on Friday or Saturday.

A 61-year-old Battle Creek man was arrested Thursday after Battle Creek police found a
14-year-old girl in his apartment.
Sam Sanders was arrested on charges of third-degree criminal sexual
conduct and harboring a runaway after he was questioned by Battle Creek
police, according to Lt. Duane Knight. He said additional charges could
be filed.Sanders,
who has convictions in the 1970s and 1980 for armed robbery, is being
held in the county jail and likely will be arraigned in Calhoun County
District Court today.Police
said information from several interviews led them to the apartment at
30 E. Territorial Road, where they found the girl about 9:30 a.m.
Thursday.She was not physically injured, police said, and was taken to the police department for questioning.The
girl had been missing since about 6 p.m. Wednesday when she was last
seen talking to a man in a car near Michigan and Dunning avenues a
block or so from her home. Her mother told police she had gone outside
a short time before but did not return.Knight
said police believe the girl, who was described as having the mental
capacity of a second- or third-grader, was enticed, but not physically
forced, to go with the man and was not held at the apartment.Police released the identity of the girl. Knight said police believe there may be other victims and are continuing their investigation.Anyone
with information about Sanders or the incident is asked to call Battle
Creek police at 966-3322 or Silent Observer at 964-3888.

In Battle Creek, the man accused of kidnapping and sexual assault made his first appearance in court Monday.
Police say they found two teenage girls
in the home of Sam Sanders at the end of February. A judge officially
read Sanders his charges Monday morning.
Authorities took the bold step of
releasing Sam Sanders' name before he was arraigned since they wanted
other victims to come forward. They say they had a strong suspicion
that Sanders had done things like this before, and Monday at the
justice complex, he was charged for not one, but two girls he may have
sexually abused. One of the girls is a relative of Sanders.
Sanders seemed to crouch out of view during his video arraignment, rarely speaking or even looking at the camera.
The magistrate read two cases files to Sanders, one involving a fourteen year old he allegedly abused in October of 2009.
Sanders now faces five counts related to criminal sexual conduct on that case and his alleged victim was also a relative.
The second case file involved the girl
that sparked an Amber Alert in February. Police say Sanders wore down
that victim, slowly getting the fourteen year old to trust him, and
then tried to have sexual contact with the mentally challenged girl.
Police say Sanders may have even more victims related to the two above.
“There are some other girls they were
hanging around with that were vulnerable to this same situation,” said
Det. Sgt. Todd Madsen of the Battle Creek Police Department. “I don't
know if they're ever going to come forward, but we're willing to talk
to anybody.”
Sanders' bond was set at $250,000 for each case, totaling a half-million dollars.

Battle Creek police claim that 61-year-old Sam Sanders likes to
prey on young mentally challenged girls, but he may have done it for
the last time. They claim he would “groom them” with kind words,
building up a relationship, and then take advantage of them sexually.
Yesterday he was charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct,
and several other counts for allegedly assaulting a 15 year old
relative who was a runaway last fall. He has also been charged with CSC
for assaulting a 14-year-old from Battle Creek who was the subject of
an Amber Alert last week. He has been ordered held on a half million
dollars bond and if convicted, could get up to life.