Two teen girls who had been sought by law enforcement here after reports of their disappearance last week have returned to Hempstead County, and the Nashville man with whom they were traveling awaits extradition on state charges.
William Gilbert, 34, of Nashville, has waived extradition to Hempstead County from Jackson County, Mich., and is expected to be returned to Hope within about 10 days, Hempstead County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy James Singleton said Tuesday.
“Once we get him back here, the investigation will continue,” Singleton said. “There have been preliminary interviews with law enforcement up there.”
Gilbert is being returned to Hope on a warrant issued May 10 by Eighth Judicial District-North Circuit Judge Wm. Randal Wright on a charge of endangering the welfare of a minor, a class D felony, Singleton said.
He said no additional charges have been forthcoming at this time.
Both girls, who reside in the Spring Hill area, were returned to Hempstead County late Tuesday night, he said.
Singleton said Wednesday that a $1,000 reward offered by the family of one of the girls has not been claimed since the pair was located by law enforcement.
“They were stopped on a traffic stop by a Michigan state trooper, so, it won’t,” he said.
Singleton also said that confusion regarding text messages allegedly sent by the girls in the early stages of the investigation into their alleged runaway disappearance has been clarified. He said that neither of the girls was the source of a text message concerning an alleged threat of violence on the Spring Hill High School campus.
“Investigation is still on-going to see who originated that,” he said.
The text message probe was undertaken after worried parents began to withdraw their children from school at Spring Hill last week after the two teens were discovered to be missing. However, classes in Spring Hill were not dismissed as a result of the incident, according to Spring Hill Superintendent Dickie Williams.
Singleton said Wednesday that investigation is now separate from the girls’ disappearance.
The two teens were found after one was discovered in the company of Gilbert after a traffic stop in Jackson County, Mich., and the other was determined to have been left at a bus station in Detroit, Mich., to return to Hope.
Original reports indicated that the girls had intended to travel to Florida, and how they became involved with Gilbert and why they traveled to Michigan remains under investigation, Singleton said.
