Missing teen travelled with murderer
A 14-year-old US girl who was missing for more than three weeks has been found travelling through California with a convicted murderer.
Lindsey Ryan appeared to be in good health, but her blonde hair had been dyed black.
Her travelling companion, 56-year-old Terry Drake, was arrested. He had spent 16 years in prison for killing an Indiana woman in 1977.
“It is a horrible situation that has a happy ending. You are looking at some very happy parents today,” said Lindsey’s father Patrick.
The teenager had left her home in Jones, Michigan, to meet Drake, who police said she met at a church and had been e-mailing before she disappeared.
The pair were soon featured on the US TV show, America’s Most Wanted, and Michigan, Indiana and California all issued alerts telling the public to be on the lookout for them.
They were eventually tracked down after a truck driver recognised Drake’s vehicle at a petrol station 70 miles north-west of Reno, Nevada – more than 2,000 miles from Lindsey’s home.
The white pick-up truck had been painted black but still had the same Indiana plates.
Officers said they found three guns in the truck and two more at the remote campsite where the pair had apparently been staying.
