OMAHA (KSS) — A pregnant teenager whose disappearance sparked a months-long AMBER Alert in multiple states has been found safe, Wisconsin authorities say.
Sophia Franklin, missing since Feb. 2 from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, was discovered April 2 near Omaha, Nebraska, according to the Beaver Dam Police Department. She was with Gary Day, the 40-year-old father of her unborn child.
Day was taken into custody, police said. He had previously been charged with child abduction and child enticement, according to McClatchy News reporting.
Franklin’s discovery came on her 17th birthday, according to WBAY.
Police said Franklin left her Beaver Dam home the morning of Feb. 3 with Day, McClatchy News reported.
There had been a no-contact order between Day and Franklin, police said. They began communicating online in April 2024, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WITI.
The teen previously left with Day in 2024 and was with him for months before returning home, according to investigators, WITI reported.
During the most recent disappearance, AMBER Alerts were issued in several states, including Wisconsin, Missouri and Day’s home state of Arkansas, according to McClatchy News.
It wasn’t until two months after she went missing that authorities received a tip about her whereabouts in Nebraska, police said in an April 3 news release. Omaha, where Franklin was found safe, is about a 465-mile drive southwest from her hometown.
“The Beaver Dam Police Department would like to thank the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the numerous other law enforcement agencies that put forth the time and effort to locate Sophia,” the department said. “We would also like to thank the community members in multiple states for their awareness and willingness to share leads to follow to help bring Sophia safely home.”
Police did not say if Day faces additional charges. Franklin was taken to a “secure facility” and will be reunited with her family.
By MIKE STUNSON/Kansas City Star
Mike Stunson covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a 2011 Western Kentucky University graduate who has previously worked at the Paducah Sun and Madisonville Messenger as a sports reporter and the Lexington Herald-Leader as a breaking news reporter.