Missing Van Zandt County girl found safe in Kentucky, two arrested

Missing Van Zandt County girl found safe in Kentucky, two arrested

VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas — Missing Van Zandt county girl, 14-year-old Willow Sirmans, was found safe in the Lousiville, Kentucky, area last night. 

VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas — Missing Van Zandt county girl, 14-year-old Willow Sirmans, was found safe in the Lousiville, Kentucky, area last night. 

Van Zandt County Sheriff Dale Corbett says more than 15 agencies came together in a joint operation to locate Sirmans.

A person of interest listed on Sirmans' AMBER Alert, 21-year-old Austen Walker, was arrested on federal kidnapping and flight to avoid prosecution charges, according to the FBI-Dallas and -Lousiville Field Offices. He is in custody at the Oldham County Jail in La Grange, Kentucky.

Authorities say Courtney Odum was also arrested and facing similar charges.

{{tncms-inline account="FBIDallas" html="<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you to the Kentucky State Police, Elizabethtown Police Department & <a href="https://twitter.com/FBILouisville?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBILouisville</a> for helping <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDallas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBIDallas</a> and the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office safely locate and recover critically missing child Willow Sirmans last night. <a href="https://t.co/3M156PQGeI">pic.twitter.com/3M156PQGeI</a></p>— FBI Dallas (@FBIDallas) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDallas/status/1261321854544797696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote>" id="1261321854544797696" type="twitter"}}

ORIGINAL — An AMBER Alert has been issued for a missing Van Zandt County girl, 14-year-old Willow Sirmans.

According to the AMBER Alert, Sirmans was last seen at approximately 10 p.m. on May 11, 2020, in the 3000 block of VZ County Road 1712 in the Grand Saline area.

The alert indicates Sirman may have been abducted.

Sirmans is described as 3'0", 75 pounds, with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and braces on her teeth.

Police believe she is with 21-year-old Austen Walker. He is described as 5'9", 140 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. He has a tattoo on both arms and a scar on the right arm.

Anyone with information on Sirmans' whereabouts is asked to contact the Van Zandt County Sheriff's Office at (903) 567-4133.