The Beaver Dam Police Department in Wisconsin has asked Arkansas police to activate an AMBER Alert for a missing 16-year-old girl pregnant teen.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police believe that 16-yea-old Sophia Martin Franklin is with Gary F. Day, 40, the father of her unborn child. Franklin was last seen at her home on February 2 at 9 p.m., near 4th and Beaver, in Beaver Dam.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Day. He faces two counts of child enticement and two counts of child abduction in Dodge County.
“This man is a predator,” Sheriff John Staley, of Lonoke County, Arkansas, told WISN 12 News Wednesday. “We’re going to have to figure out how to hold him accountable.”
Day possibly changed license plates on his vehicle to evade capture. They spotted his suspected vehicle in Wisconsin on the morning of February 3 with Pennsylvania license plate KGW 5186.
“Just get her photo out and continue to call in tips, and if you see something, please say something and call your local law enforcement agency, and the information will get back to us,” Chief John Kreuziger with the Beaver Dam Police Department said, ABC 2 reports.
Franklin’s parents told Beaver Dam police that she used various phones and electronic devices to communicate with strangers online and had been sneaking out of the house, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.
After starting to communicate with Day online in April 2024, Franklin vanished from July until December. The criminal complaint indicates that her family thought she was with a friend in the Beaver Dam area, but Day had secretly picked her up and taken her to his home in central Arkansas.
Officers discovered the two together during a probation check in December, but they fled the residence.
“Two of them went to do a check on Mr. Day, and someone ran out the back door of his residence,” Sheriff Staley said. “Turns out it was a female that was a juvenile from Wisconsin.”
Police arrested Day for interference with custody and returned Franklin to her home in Beaver Dam.
On February 3, prosecutors reported that a man resembling Day appeared on a doorbell camera near Franklin’s home. The man, dressed in black pants, a black long-sleeve shirt, and a gray winter hat, was seen walking up the driveway before running as he reached the rear of the house, according to the complaint.
The paid have been missing since.
Day has been on probation since he pleaded guilty in 2020 to endangering his 4-month-old son, who sustained a fractured femur.
Franklin is described as a white female who stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs around 186 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.
Police described Day as a white male, standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing approximately 165 pounds. He has blonde or balding hair and green eyes.
The sheriff’s office encourages anyone with information to email tips@lonokeso.com(mailto:tips@lonokeso.com) to remain confidential. For immediate assistance, call 911 or 501-676-3000.
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[Feature Photos via Beaver Fam PD]