BEAVER DAM, Wis. — A multi-state AMBER Alert for 17-year-old Sophia Franklin has been canceled after she was found safe, nearly nine weeks after going missing, according to the Beaver Dam Police Department.
Family members say she is back home in Wisconsin after returning Thursday. Police say 40-year-old Gary Day, the man believed to have been traveling with her when the alert was issued, is in custody.
“We’re feeling relieved. We’re ready to take the next steps for Sophia to be well and whole again,” Leah Franklin, Sophia’s mother, said. “Just so thankful that she’s no longer with this man who has totally violated our family's privacy and manipulated our daughter in unfathomable ways.”
Franklin said the past few weeks have been a nightmare for their family.
“Him being put away and never coming back out. I don’t want to ever see him again,” Franklin declared. “I want to see him one day in court. That’s it. I want to make him an afterthought. I want to put this behind us and never think about him again.”
Beaver Dam police shared the much-anticipated news Thursday morning, saying they were notified just before midnight Wednesday, April 2, by Nebraska deputies about a possible sighting of Sophia.
The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a tip at Love's Travel Stop, spoke to two witnesses, and confirmed Day and Sophia’s identities. The investigation revealed felony warrants for Day’s arrest on charges of child abduction and enticement, according to a press release.
Deputies took Day into custody and brought Sophia to a secure facility to await reunification with her family.
“It’s been extreme panic at times,” Franklin said. “Also, we are people of faith, so intermingled with that is a sense of peace from the Lord, knowing He is in control. They found her on her birthday—wow, if that’s not a God thing, I don’t know what is.”
Sophia had been missing from her family’s Beaver Dam home since Feb. 2. At the time of the AMBER Alert, she was 16 and three months pregnant. Authorities said Day is the father of her unborn child.
“To be that depraved, to take advantage of a 16-year-old girl—just barely 16 at the time—like he’s my age. Who does that?” Franklin said.
The alert was issued in Wisconsin and later expanded to Missouri and Arkansas, where Day lives. Before it was issued, authorities say Sophia spent over four months with Day in Arkansas while her parents thought she was staying with a friend in town and working.
Franklin told TMJ4 News in a February interview that they first learned about Day when police in Arkansas contacted them. Day was on probation for child abuse at the time.
Watch: Missing pregnant Beaver Dam teen found safe; man arrested
“We were in communication with her that entire time. She wasn't happy with us because we had tried to keep her safe, and she was really upset with us about that. We were trying to let her cool off," Franklin said. "We were trying to keep communication lines open with her so that she would come home."
Sophia’s mother recalled the day she discovered her daughter was missing, saying the teen hadn’t been feeling well.
The following day, when she checked on Sophia, she found her gone. The family was left with a chilling discovery: security footage from their doorbell camera showing 40-year-old Gary Day walking through their yard.
“This is our biggest danger right now: it’s the outside world or the internet. And I’m not trying to scare anyone, but we really should be,” Franklin said. “You can do all the right things—all the right things—we did. We set boundaries and parameters, and yet this still happened.”
Franklin said the focus now is on getting Sophia, who is five months pregnant, back to where she needs to be, both mentally and physically.
“She has a fantastic group of people who love her. We have a large family,” Franklin said. “We have a lot of friends, and we’re just going to surround her with love and support as best we can. It won’t be perfect, but we’ll do our best.”
The Sarpy County sheriff credited two truck drivers for alerting them to Sophia Franklin's location at a Love's Travel Stop.
The sheriff said the drivers, a husband and wife, recognized that something seemed odd when they saw the pregnant teen with an older man. The wife began talking with Franklin and Day, then contacted authorities after she noticed inconsistencies in their stories and later learned about the Amber Alert.
Elliot Revels has spent 10 years driving for Polyak Trucking. After decades on the job, Revels has seen a lot of strange things on the road that led him to contact law enforcement. It is ingrained in him and his coworkers to report anything concerning.
Revels was not surprised to learn that truck drivers played a major role in locating the teen.
"I think it's awesome," Revels said. "Some people don't like to get involved."
Watch: Truck driver says strange sights on the road are common
Businesses like Love's Travel Stop train team members to recognize signs of human trafficking and how to respond. A spokesperson said their efforts are modeled after a U.S. Department of Justice program.
Revels hopes others will not shy away from intervening because it could make a difference.
"If you see something strange, either call somebody or tell somebody else about it. Have them call if you don't want to get involved, but do something," Revels said.
Day pleaded not guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and false reporting in a Nebraska court on Friday. Both charges are misdemeanors. He also has a warrant out of Dodge County.
On Monday, TMJ4 learned that Day is being held on a $5 million cash bond for his Wisconsin and Arkansas extradition cases. Nebraska also filed charges, and he is being held on a $2.5 million bond for his local charges.
In Nebraska, defendants have a 10% bond option. Day would need to post $500,000 for each extradition case and $250,000 for his local charges to be released from state custody, according to the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office.
Day entered a resistance to extradition. The state of Wisconsin will now begin the process of obtaining a governor’s warrant, which can take up to 90 days.
He has another court hearing in Nebraska at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 10.
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