Michael WilsonA missing 2-year-old Cleveland, Tenn., girl has returned home after a 10-day cross-country search ended in Grand Junction, Colo.
The hunt for Skyla Lashay Miller began when her noncustodial father, Michael Wilson, 35, failed to return her to Clara Hanacek, her custodial grandmother, after his visitation expired Aug. 7. Law enforcement officers intercepted the pair Wednesday evening on Interstate 70 in Mesa County, arresting Wilson on an outstanding warrant of custodial interference.
Miller "appeared to be unharmed" and authorities placed her in the care of the Mesa County Department of Human Services until reunited with her grandmother, according to the Grand Junction Police Department blog.
Wilson has been placed in the Mesa County Jail, pending extradition, the police department said.
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office announced that investigators seek to amend Wilson's charges to aggravated kidnapping, but did not provide a date for his extradition.
The Grand Junction Police Department credits Miller's recovery to a collaboration of area law enforcement agencies, including Palisade police officers, Mesa County deputies and Grand Junction detectives. The agencies responded to a notification sent by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Wilson was suspected of being in the area.
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office hunt for Wilson and Miller, who authorities listed as "endangered," stretched beyond East Tennessee from the beginning.
Detectives had already spoken with "different people in different states," Capt. Steve Lawson of the criminal investigations division said during a media conference on the afternoon of Aug. 8.
Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson and Hanacek flew to Grand Junction to retrieve the child on Thursday.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow on Twitter @pleach_tfp.