Monday, August 17, 2009

Missing Boy Found With Sex Offender

(Memphis 08/15/2001) - A 14-year-old boy is found safe after he disappears with a known sex offender. The disappearance set off an Amber Alert this morning. The boy and the suspect were found Saturday afternoon walking in Bartlett. News Channel 3 was the only station there when his family got the good news.

"There are no words to express how I feel right now. It's been one heck of a week. One heck of a morning. It's been one heck of a week but hopefully it's going to come to a good end and not a sad end," said Barbara Hartjen, the teen's grandmother.

The 14-year-old disappeared sometime after 10 o'clock Friday night. Memphis police issued a West Tennessee Amber Alert with a full description of the brown-haired, blue-eyed teen. He was with 37-year-old Mark Tyre, a registered sex offender in Tennessee, when they found him.

Both Tyre and the boy live in the Kingsbury area. They were found walking together in Bartlett around 11 o'clock Saturday morning. Two Bartlett police officers recognized them from the Amber Alert that was issued.

"I feel very very relieved that my son is coming home. Thank ya'll for helping us and thank God he is coming home," said Gloria James, the teen's mother.

The family says Tyre had befriended the 14-year-old. They suspected something was wrong with the teen's new adult friend. So, they looked him up on the internet and found Tyre was a registered sex offender classified as violent. They took the information to Memphis police this past Monday but Tyre remained free until this incident. The family hopes now he is finally going back to jail.

Hartjen said, "That was a relief to me to know the man is going to be off the streets. He does not need to be on the streets of Memphis. Any child can be attacked by this man."

Mark Tyre was transported to the Memphis police department sex crimes for questioning. Officers told the boy's family Tyre is expected to be charged. No word yet on what those charges will be.

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