BUCHANAN, Ga. (AP) - An investigation that began with a report of a kidnapping in Georgia resulted in the arrests in Alabama early Monday of five people suspected of human smuggling.
The Haralson County Sheriff's Office said a woman it didn't identify paid to have her 16-year-old son brought into the United States and went to a Georgia welcome center on the Georgia-Alabama line to pick up the teen after making a down payment.
The woman didn't have enough money for the final payment, so the person with the youth refused to hand him over, the department said. The woman then called 911 to report an abduction, and an Amber Alert was issued for the youth.
Georgia deputies later found the teen and several others at a nearby Alabama welcome center, where deputies in Cleburne County arrested five people including a pregnant woman. The juvenile was returned to Haralson County, but authorities did not release additional details about his whereabouts.
The sheriff's office did not release the names of anyone who was charged, and it said additional information couldn't be released because an investigation wasn't finished.