Runaway Teen Duo Found Asleep in Florida
Dalton Hayes and Cheyenne Phillips were apprehended without incident.
— -- Runaway Kentucky teens Dalton Hayes and Cheyenne Phillips were found asleep early this morning in Florida in the 2001 Toyota Tundra they allegedly stole in Georgia, authorities said.
“The vehicle was surrounded by law enforcement and both Hayes and Phillips were taken into custody without further incident,” the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky said in a statement of the incident in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“The process has begun to get both extradited back to Kentucky to answer for multiple felony charges,” according to the statement. “In total, Hayes and Phillips were on the run for approximately 14 days. However, it should be noted that throughout the multi-state hunt for them, no civilian was injured, neither one of them were injured and no police officer was injured.
Bay County jail records note that Hayes, 18, is being held today on a charge of custodial interference, according to The Associated Press, and that he is scheduled for a first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. Monday. Authorities plan to extradite the teens back to Kentucky, where they are expected to face felony charges, the AP reported.
Cheyenne, 13, was placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, police said.
The teens may also face charges in South Carolina. Chief Blair Shaffer of the Manning, South Carolina, Police said its department has "minor" forgery charges against the teens for allegedly passing a forged check, but "back home is the best place for these teens to be."
Shaffer said Friday, "We could pursue criminal charges against them, we just have to continue to wait. And once they're found then we can look at the circumstances and decide if that would be something we'd want to pursue."
Hayes could also face "several felony crimes" in North Carolina and Georgia, the Grayson County Sheriff's Office said earlier this week.
Hayes' sister Heather Martin told ABC News Friday that no one in their family "has any clue why" the teens left.
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