TRINITY COUNTY, TX (KTRE) -
The Amber Alert issued late Monday
night for an 11-year-old Trinity County girl has been canceled. Trinity County
authorities located the missing girl and her mother Tuesday afternoon.
East Texas News was following
the story in Trinity County all day Tuesday.
It was a tense day in Trinity County as
authorities and Child Protective officials were looking for 11-year-old
Savannah Hurley. However, the search didn't last long. Using cell phone data
and information from area informants, authorities were able to track down
Savannah and her mother, Shelly Hurley.
"Fortunately, around 1:30, we received
some very good information about a subdivision we thought she might have been
held up in, and we were able to check several residences there and use the
information," Trinity County Sheriff Ralph Montemayor said.
Sheriff's deputies blocked the only road in
and out of the Trinity Cove Subdivision for several hours. They were checking
all cars coming and going from the area.
Montemayor said the blockade was a good
idea because word got out, and that forced Hurley to hunker down in the
neighborhood.
"The mother and the child were found
in a travel trailer there on a piece of property hid back in somewhat of the
woods there," Montemayor said. "The child is recovered safe, and the mother was
placed under arrest for custody interference."
Both the mother and daughter were found in
the Trinity Cove Subdivision at 2 p.m.
When CPS workers went to the mother's home
Monday to take custody of the child, Hurley said the girl was not there, but
with her mother, Patricia Rutledge, in the Woodlands, Montemayor said. According to
Trinity County Sheriff's officials, Hurley later had a violent confrontation
with the CPS worker; she threatened to run over the worker with her car as she
was leaving.
After leaving her residence, Hurley met up with
Rutledge and took the child. Rutledge was arrested for interfering with child
custody.
Authorities say Hurley is a known drug user
and CPS went to take custody of the child because there was a child welfare
concern.
"CPS was contacted and did an
investigation and asked her to take a random drug test for them and she tested
positive for meth," Montemayor said.
Several Texas law enforcement agencies
helped with the search and Montemayor says everyone did a great job.
"Less than 24 hours - that's always a
great outcome," Montemayor said. "We was able to get her before she even got
out of our county, so we're very happy about that."
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
Patricia Hurley (Source: Trinity County Jail)
Patricia Rutledge (Source: Trinity County Jail)
Source: Trinity County Sheriff's Office
