CASEY LYNN GARDNER - 16 yo - Free Home (N of Atlanta) GA

Cherokee detectives held a road block Monday morning on Cumming
Highway in Free Home and passed out information on a missing 16-year-old
girl last seen two weeks ago. Casey Lynn Gardner was last seen
Thursday June 17 at Homer's Gas Station in the Free Home community.

Police
describe Gardner as a white female, 5 foot 7 inches, 125 pounds, with
brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a
yellow shirt. Gardner left on foot and has no cell phone. She has
friends and family in Murray County, say police. Detectives
spoke with relatives and friends but have been unable to locate Gardner.
Lieutenant Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office says
detectives passed out flyers at the roadblock with the girl's
information on it hoping someone will recognize her. Anyone with
any information about Gardner is urged to contact Cherokee County 911.

With all leads exhausted, authorities set up a roadblock Monday in a
last-ditch effort to find a 16-year-old Canton girl.
From 10:30 a.m. to noon Cherokee
County detectives stopped cars on Cumming Highway in Free Home --
the area where Casey Lynn Garner was last seen 11 days ago -- and passed
out fliers hoping someone would recognize her.
The girl has run away from her foster home before. But she always
returned or made contact with her foster parents, or her friends. Not this time.
"It's been almost two weeks and the time frame is what's concerning
us now," said Lt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee
County Sheriff's Office. "She has no cellphone. We've talked to all
of her friends and family. Detectives have exhausted all of the leads.
This is one last effort to get her picture out there."
Garner was last spotted at Homer's gas station in Free Home in the
late morning of Thursday, June 17. She was on foot, having run away from
her home on Claude Scott Drive.
"This is the time of day she went missing," Baker said about 11:15
a.m. Monday. "We're hoping some of the traffic
that comes through might have seen something on the 17th."
Garner is described as white, 5-foot-7, weighing 125 pounds, with
brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing jeans and a yellow shirt.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call 911, or the
Sheriff's Office at 770-928-0239.

Casey Lynn Gardner, the 16-year-old Cherokee
County girl missing for 11 days and the reason for a police
roadblock on Cumming Highway, was found Monday night.
The teen, one of four foster children who live in a Canton home, was
located in Forsyth County after the Cherokee
County Sheriff's Office received an anonymous tip. Gardner
apparently was in good health, according to the sheriff's office.
Earlier in the day, a police roadblock was set up on Cumming Highway
in hopes of finding the girl or picking up a tip regarding her
whereabouts. The roadblock strategically was set up for the same time of
day that Gardner went missing on June 17.
From 10:30 a.m. to noon, Cherokee
County Sheriff detectives searching for Gardner, stopped cars on the
highway in Free Home and handed out fliers. Lt. Jay Baker, sheriff's
office spokesman, said media coverage of Gardner's disappearance had
helped in finding her.
Gardner previously was last seen at Homer's gas station in Free Home
after running away from her Claude Scott Drive home with two other
foster girls -- one of whom was her biological sister. The other girls
were located at the gas station later in the day following a call from
the gas station attendant.
The girls threatened to run away after they were grounded the night
before for "lying and stealing," a guardian told deputies, according to
the incident report. The guardian considered it an idle threat and went
to bed.

A Forsyth County man faces several charges after he reportedly housed a
teenage runaway for nearly two weeks.

William David Gowdy, 31,
has been charged with interference with custody and contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Lt. Jay Baker said Gowdy, who was arrested at
home Tuesday following an anonymous phone tip, is being held at the
Cherokee County Detention Center.

The 16-year-old ran away from
her Canton foster home on June 18 with her biological sister and another
child who also lived there, Baker said. The three were last seen at a nearby gas station.

“She went one direction and the other two went another direction,” Baker said.

The other two were found later, he said, adding there are no concerns with the foster family.

“By all accounts, they are a good family,” Baker said, adding it’s not the
first time the girl has run away.

After leaving the gas station, the girl made it to Gowdy’s home, where she had been staying ever since.

Baker said the girl was not being held against her will,
however, Gowdy was aware that she was a runaway and “chose not to
contact law enforcement.”

Following the phone tip, Cherokee deputies went to the home. While waiting for Forsyth County Sheriff's
deputies to arrive, they saw Gowdy get into his vehicle and start to leave.

Baker said Cherokee deputies decided to make a move,
blocking the vehicle, where the teen was found hiding in the back seat.

The teen, who was charged with runaway and unruly child, is being held at
the Paulding County Youth Detention Center.