Girl Found Safe, Amber Alert Canceled

NewsOn6.com

SHINEWELL, OK -- The McCurtain County Sheriff's Office canceled an Amber Alert Tuesday after a missing girl was safely recovered.

Authorities released a statement at approximately 8:35 a.m. Tuesday indicating 11-year-old Jasmine Bazan was located safely and that suspected abductor Kenneth Wilcox was taken into custody near Shinewell, Oklahoma in McCurtain County.

According to authorities, Jasmine and two siblings were abducted in Lubbock, Texas.
Lubbock police Capt. Greg Stevens said Lashawnda Theriac, who turned 15 on Tuesday, and 9-year-old Angel Contreras were found around 11:30 p.m. Monday near Idabel, Oklahoma.

Authorities say the two children had contacted their parents in Lubbock after Wilcox left them with his cousin. Their family members contacted Lubbock police and detectives contacted the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office who quickly responded and found Lashawnda and Angel.

The children are in the custody of the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office and plans for reuniting them with their families are underway.

Authorities say Wilcox apparently told Lashawnda and Angel that he was taking Jasmine with him to Wal-Mart in Idabel. When authorities were unable to locate Jasmine or Wilcox at the Idabel Wal-Mart, McCurtain County Sheriff Johnny Tadlock launched a large scale search for the two that continued through the night and involved as many as 30 law enforcement officers.

These officers came from his own agency, the Oklahoma State Police, the Idabel Police Department, the Choctaw Tribal Police, the Arkansas State Police and bordering Arkansas county sheriff's offices.

Using information received from the two children, along with information from people in the area who knew Wilcox, Sheriff Tadlock's deputies were able to narrow their search to the Shinewell, Oklahoma area.

Shortly before 8:30 AM Tuesday morning, Wilcox was stopped at a check point set up by law enforcement in the Shinewell area with Jasmine Bazan in the vehicle with him. Jasmine is now currently in the custody of the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office.

Wilcox was arrested on a warrant issued Tuesday morning in Lubbock County for Aggravated Kidnapping and is currently being held in the McCurtain Jail on $750,000 bond.

Police say efforts to extradite him back to Lubbock will begin soon.