Seventeen-year-old Samantha Herrera, who was abducted in Sheridan late January 8, prompting an Amber Alert, has been found safe, and Rodney Brown, the nineteen-year-old suspected of kidnapping her, is in custody.
These developments followed a day of tension and energetic investigations by multiple police agencies in the metro area.
The Amber Alert for Herrera was issued by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation at 11:55 p.m. on January 8 in response to a request from the Sheridan Police Department. Such an alert was unusual, since the service is typically deployed when younger children go missing. But evidence was plentiful that quick action needed to be taken.
The next morning, more details emerged.
At 5:10 p.m. on January 8, according to the Sheridan police, officers responded to a PetSmart parking lot at 3720 River Point Parkway after receiving a report of two females screaming for someone to call 911.
Upon their arrival, officers located one person identified as a "victim/witness." She said that another juvenile female — Herrera — was trying to get out of her boyfriend's car during a "physical struggle."
The boyfriend in question was ID'd as Brown, who'd marked his nineteenth birthday on January 3. He was reported to have physically prevented Herrera from getting out of his car, a 2000 White Honda Accord, and then driven away.
Officers subsequently discovered that Brown was named in a protection order that prohibited him from contacting Herrera. Authorities described him as violent, with access to weapons.
The two were thought to be in the north metro area, prompting the involvement of the Northglenn Police Department. Sheridan police subsequently asked locals to keep an eye out for another "possible associated vehicle" — a blue 2017 Nissan Altima — and noted that an arrest warrant had been issued for Brown.
Around 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon, Mile High Missing Children confirmed that the white Honda had been found.
Then, at 5:58 p.m., the CBI tweeted the following: "The @AMBERAlert for Samantha Herrera has been canceled. She has been located with Rodney Brown in custody."
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Late last night, a Sheridan Police Department spokesperson reported that Herrera had been found inside a home near the intersection of Elmer and Larson drives in Northglenn at approximately 10:45 a.m.; Brown was nabbed at around 5 p.m. January 9 at an undisclosed location.
More specifics were shared by the SPD this morning. An excerpt from the announcement reads: "On the afternoon of January 9, 2019, Rodney Brown was taken into custody by the Northglenn Police Department. The location was a family member of the victim the Amber Alert was issued for.... A supervisor from the Sheridan Police Department spoke to a supervisor with the Northglenn Police Department. The Northglenn supervisor related that the victim was present at the Northglenn address, but that she left the scene prior to the arrival of the police. Based on the above, and no longer believing the victim was in danger, the Amber Alert was cancelled."
Brown is currently in the Adams County Detention Facility, and charges are pending.
This post has been updated to include information released his morning by the Sheridan Police Department.
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