Hayleigh Wilson, 14, Missing Since June 23, 2015 - Surgoinsville, TN

By Crimesider Staff / CBS News / June 24, 2015, 11:30 AM

Missing 14-year-old girl last seen with sex offender in NC


Hayleigh Wilson, 14  / WBTV

MARION, NC -- Police are searching for a 14-year-old Tennessee girl who was last seen in a Marion, North Carolina Walmart with a sex offender, according to CBS affiliate WBTV.

Hayleigh Wilson, from Surgoinsville, Tenn., left her home on Monday night around 10 p.m., according to the station.

Wilson was last seen with Benjamin Shook, 41, a sex offender from Georgia, who is wanted for failing to register. An East Tennessee AMBER Alert has been activated by the Surgionsville Police Department.

Shook was wearing a blue shirt with "Ford" written on it, dark shorts and a camouflage baseball hat. He has multiple tattoos.

Hayleigh was wearing a flowery shirt.

Hayleigh and Shook may be in a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Maroon in color with Tennessee tag D6020D.

If you have any information on Hayleigh Wilson or Ben Shook, contact the Surgionsville Police Department at 423-272-7121 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Read more:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/missing-14-year-old-girl-last-seen-with-sex-offender-in-nc/

AMBER Alert issued, search for missing Hayleigh Wilson

By Lenny Cohen, Digital Media Manager, LCohen@wcyb.com

POSTED: 7:37 AM Jun 24 2015   UPDATED: 7:28 PM Jun 24 2015


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AMBER Alert: Hayleigh Wilson & Benjamin Shook

SURGOINSVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an AMBER Alert for a girl missing from Hawkins County. The 14-year-old was seen at a North Carolina Walmart with a 41-year-old ex-con who is wanted for failing to register as a sex offender.

The TBI told us Hayleigh Wilson left her home in Surgoinsville around 10pm Monday, June 22. She was with Benjamin 'Ben' Shook, who the Surgoinsville police chief said she met on a dating site.

Police say her mother and step-father woke up to notice their maroon 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac was missing. Then, they couldn't find Hayleigh.

Her father told News 5 WCYB's Kristi O'Connor she's an A student and this is unlike her.

Read more:

http://www.wcyb.com/news/amber-alert-issued-for-missing-girl/33745662

Hayleigh Wilson, 14

Interview with Hayleigh Wilson's father, missing Hawkins County teen

VIDEO:

Eddie Wilson, the father of the missing Hawkins County girl, spoke with 10News on his missing daughter. WBIR

Read more:

http://www.wbir.com/videos/news/local/2015/06/24/29232669/

Search continues in southwest Virginia for East Tenn. teen, suspect in Amber Alert case

By:  ROBERT SORRELL, Bristol Herald Courier

Posted: 9:27 AM, Jun 29, 2015
Updated: 9:46 AM, Jun 29, 2015


Hayleigh Wilson, 14, of Surgoinsville, Tenn. (TBI)

Authorities continue to search for Hayleigh Wilson, 14, who left her home in Surgoinsville, Tenn., one week ago, and is now believed to be traveling on foot in southwestern Virginia with a convicted sex offender.

According to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Amber Alert, Wilson and Benjamin Shook, 41, were last seen on Wednesday in the Sugar Grove area of Virginia's Smyth County.


Benjamin Shook, 41

On Sunday, local, state and federal authorities continued to search abandoned buildings, barns, campers and other structures in the area. They’ve also checked forests, hiking trails and campsites, according to police scanner traffic.

Read more:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/state/authorities-focus-on-sw-virginia-in-search-for-east-tenn-teen-suspect-in-amber-alert-case

Endangered Missing Child Alert issued for Hayleigh Wilson

June 29th, 2015 | Written by: Web Staff



The Virginia State Police Department and the Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse have issued an Endangered Child Alert on behalf of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for Hayleigh Cheyenne Wilson who was last seen in Smyth County, VA. The 14-year-old is believed to be in danger. She’s 5’5 and about 150 pounds with black hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a black-and white flowery top with black shorts. She is believed to be with 41-year-old Benjamin Joseph Shook. He’s 6’6 and about 175 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt, black shorts and camouflage ball cap. Anyone with information is asked to please contact the TN Bureau of Investigation at 1-615-744-4600 or VSP at 1-800-822-4453, (1-800-VACHILD) or #77 on a cell.

http://wfirnews.com/local-news/endangered-missing-child-alert-issued-for-hayleigh-wilson

(BBM)

AMBER Alert for Hayleigh Wilson  / CBS affiliate WDBJ

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hayleigh-wilson-vehicle-found-in-case-of-missing-girl-thought-to-be-with-sex-offender/

RELATED ARTICLES:

. Fears for girl, 14, who went missing with child molester five days ago - and they have since been spotted in three different states
. Hayleigh Wilson vanished from Surgoinsville, Tennessee, on Monday
. Allegedly stole pickup truck and drove to meet child molester Bejamin Shook, 41, who is out of prison on parole
. The pair have been seen in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia
. Police and family growing increasingly worried about Hayleigh
. Last seen in Archdale, North Carolina, on Friday evening

By Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com

Published: 23:32 EST, 26 June 2015  | Updated: 21:59 EST, 27 June 2015


Missing: Hayleigh Wilson, 14, (left) vanished from home in Surgoinsville, Tennessee, and has since been spotted with child molester Benjamin Shook, 41 (right)

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3141306/Fears-girl-14-went-run-child-molester-five-days-ago-spotted-three-different-states.html#ixzz3eUCcX2vJ

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Grayson Co. deputies find car in case of missing girl thought to be with sex offender

Camping equipment believed to be linked to the pair

Web Staff, WDBJ7, news@wdbj7.com

POSTED: 04:29 AM EDT Jun 26, 2015    UPDATED: 12:32 PM EDT Jun 26, 2015



GRAYSON CO., Va. -  Grayson County deputies have found the car a missing Tennessee girl was traveling in on Thursday night.

An Amber Alert went out for 14-year-old Hayleigh Wilson earlier this week.

Around 9:30 p.m., the Grayson County Sheriff's Office located the car she supposedly was in, in the Troutdale community.

This car was the subject of an Amber Alert out of Tennessee. The car was found Thursday night in Grayson County.

Wilson left her home Monday night in her father's Ford Explorer to pick up a man she met online.


This car was the subject of an Amber Alert out of Tennessee. The car was found Thursday night in Grayson County.

Police say that man is a known sex offender named Ben Shook.

There's no word of the Grayson County Sheriff's Office finding either Wilson or Shook. Investigators did find camping equipment along the Appalachian Trail in Smyth County.

Read more:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/grayson-co-deputies-find-car-of-missing-girl-thought-to-be-traveling-with-sex-offender/33785074

UPDATE: Crews looking in woods, campgrounds for missing 14-year-old girl

U.S. Marshals Service puts reward value at $5,000 for Hayleigh Wilson

Justin Ward, jward@wdbj7.com
Shayne Dwyer Shayne Dwyer, sdwyer@wdbj7.com

POSTED: 05:03 PM EDT Jun 26, 2015    UPDATED: 12:29 PM EDT Jun 29, 2015



SUGAR GROVE, Va. -  The U.S. Marshals Service announced the value of the reward for information in the search for a Tennessee teenager.

The U.S. Marshals Service will provide $5,000 to anyone with information leading to the capture and arrest of known sex offender Benjamin Shook and the safe return of Hayleigh Wilson according to Deputy U.S. Marshal Byron Schiesz.

Deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service originally announced the reward early Sunday morning but did not announce how much the reward was.

The Virginia State Police issued an endangered child alert late Saturday night, while an Amber Alert was issued for the teen in Tennessee last week.

Smyth County Sheriff's Office Lt. Bill Eller said investigators received numerous tips Sunday and units are following up on each tip. He said crews continued to search the woods and trails in the area.

Read more:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/investigators-search-appalachian-trail-in-grayson-smyth-counties-for-missing-tennessee-teen/33798706

Hayleigh Wilson’s dad says he still has hope she will come home

By Allie Hinds
Published: June 30, 2015, 6:00 pm



One week after state and federal investigators issued an Amber Alert for 14-year-old Hayleigh Wilson from Hawkins County, her father says he still has hope she will come home.

“I want her to know that I love her and Hayleigh bug, I want you home,” Hayleigh’s dad Eddie Wilson said.

Hayleigh was last seen with convicted sex offender Benjamin Shook.

Since the Amber Alert was issued, investigators have discovered surveillance video of Shook with Hayleigh. They have also recovered the truck they were in, but still no Hayleigh or Shook.

Wilson said he now clings to pictures of his missing daughter and his faith.

“Sometimes things happen and we question God,” Wilson said. “But you know through this here, this gives me more strength to rely on him. You know, he says come to me and I’ll bear all your burdens. You know, he will, if we just let him.”

It is a heavy burden for any parent to bear, his14-year-old daughter, missing, last seen with a sex offender.

Read more:

http://wjhl.com/2015/06/30/hayleigh-wilsons-dad-says-he-still-has-hope-she-will-come-home/

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Updated photo released of Amber Alert teen Hayleigh Wilson

By News Channel 11 Staff
Published: July 3, 2015, 11:57 pm  |  Updated: July 3, 2015, 11:58 pm





(WJHL) – A nationwide search is underway for a missing 14-year-old girl from Surgoinsville, TN. She is believed to be with a man who authorities are calling a “sexually violent predator“.

Previously, News Channel 11 reported the U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward in the location of Hayleigh Wilson.

She was last seen with 41-year-old Benjamin Shook, who currently has an active warrant for failure to register as a sex offender out of Georgia.

Authorities believe Wilson and Shook are in the Appalachian Mountains are of Smyth and Washington County, VA.



Read more:

http://wjhl.com/2015/07/03/us-marshals-extends-search-for-missing-14-year-old-east-tennessee-girl-reaching-national-public/

Possible sightings of Shook and Wilson direct law enforcement to Wythe County (Video)

By Kristi O'Connor, Multimedia Journalist/News Producer, KOConnor@wcyb.com

POSTED:  55 mins   UPDATED  43 mins

WYTHE COUNTY, Va. - A possible break in the case of missing 14-year-old Hayleigh Wilson. Over the last few days, two possible sightings of the Surgoinsville teen. Those witnesses also say they saw Benjamin Shook, the convicted sex offender wanted out of Georgia. A little more than hour ago we received word into the newsroom of those two sightings.

Right now, the Wythe County Sheriff's Office has established a command center in Rural Retreat, Virginia. That is where one of the sightings took place.

Saturday, members of the Smyth County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Marshals office interviewed an individual who confirmed a June 29 sighting of Shook and Wilson.  The sighting was near a camp off of Cedar Springs Road in Smyth County.

Read more:

http://www.wcyb.com/news/possible-sightings-of-shook-and-wilson-reroute-law-enforcement-to-wythe-county/34000806

Sighting: Missing Hawkins girl, sex offender sought in Wythe County

July 6th, 2015 8:15 am by JEFF BOBO

WYTHEVILLE, Va. — The search for missing 14-year-old Hayleigh Wilson is now focused on Rural Retreat, Va., where she may have been spotted last week.

Surgoinsville Police Chief James Hammonds told the Times-News Sunday the U.S. Marshals Service is interviewing witnesses who may have seen Wilson and 41-year-old convicted sex offender Benjamin Joseph “Ben” Shook in a makeshift camp near the intersection of Ridge Avenue and Etter Road in Rural Retreat on July 1.

Authorities have established a command center in Rural Retreat, are searching the area, and are asking local residents to be on the lookout for Wilson and Shook.

Read more:  

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9089215/sighting-missing-hawkins-girl-sex-offender-sought-in-wythe-county#ixzz3f7IqjRJC

Girl, 14, and child molester she vanished with after being groomed on app Kik are found in Virginia trailer park after 16 days 'living on apples in the woods'

. Hayleigh Wilson went missing from Surgoinsville, Tennessee, on June 22
. She allegedly stole pickup truck and drove to meet Benjamin Shook, 41
. Shook, a convicted sex offender, groomed Wilson via messaging app Kik
. The two were found in Atkins, Virginia, on Tuesday after a 16-day hunt
. Shook was arrested and is now in jail - he is due in court later this month

By Kieran Corcoran For Daily Mail Online

Published: 08:58 EST, 8 July 2015  | Updated: 14:12 EST, 8 July 2015

A 14-year-old girl who vanished more than two weeks ago with a convicted child molester has been found in a trailer park in Virginia.

Hayleigh Wilson, 14, allegedly stole her father's pickup truck and drove to meet 41-year-old sex offender Benjamin Shook after being seduced by him via online messaging app Kik.

She fled her home in Surgoinsville, Tennessee, and went on the run with Shook for 16 days - during which the two are thought to have lived almost entirely outside, in the woods around Virginia and North Carolina.

~Snipped~


'Begging for a shower': Hayleigh and Shook were caught in a trailer park in Atkins, Virginia, pictured above. The two reportedly knocked on a trailer door at 5am asking to wash themselves


Tip-off: Cole Billes told local news how she told the pair she wouldn't alert authorities when they knocked on her door - then dialed 911 while Shook was using her shower

But their time on the run came to an end on Tuesday after a woman called 911 after the two knocked on the door of her trailer in Atkins, Virginia, begging for a shower.

Cole Billes told Virginia news station WCYB that Hayleigh and Shook knocked on her door at 5am, and admitted they were on the run from the law.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3153565/Girl-14-child-molester-vanished-Virginia-trailer-park-begging-use-shower-sixteen-days-living-apples-woods.html#ixzz3fMjk4b00

Hayleigh Wilson in court as defendant (Video)

Charged with theft and running away

By Lenny Cohen, Digital Media Manager, LCohen@wcyb.com

POSTED: 1:02 PM Jul 08 2015   UPDATED: 3:00 PM Jul 08 2015


News 5 WCYB's Kristi O'Connor talked to Hayleigh's mom about yesterday's whirlwind of events and today's time in court. Her story, on News 5 WCYB starting at 5.

It’s Hayleigh Wilson’s first full day reunited with her family and she spent part of it in Hawkins County Juvenile Court.

Wilson is charged with theft and running away, according to Surgoinsville Police Chief James Hammonds.

She’s accused of stealing her stepfather's truck and other items to meet up with convicted sex offender Benjamin Shook.

News 5 WCYB's Kristi O'Connor talked to Wilson's parents after her arraignment. Look for that on News 5 WCYB starting at 5.

Tuesday, the AMBER Alert for the 14-year-old girl ended but questions remain about what happened over her 16 days with Shook, 41.

Wilson and Shook were found in Smyth County, Virginia. News 5 WCYB's Samantha Kozsey reported a tip led authorities to the Jollieville Trailer Park in Atkins, and Wilson and Shook received food from people over the last two weeks. They were found with two small backpacks loaded with supplies.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, they were found by the U.S. Marshal's Service.


Benjamin Shook's mugshot after his arrest by Smyth County officers.

Hayleigh and Shook were both taken to the Smyth County Sheriff's Office in Marion, Virginia. Then, Shook was taken to the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office where he was interviewed by sheriff’s investigators. They say information from the interview led investigators to potential crime scenes and they will be forensically processed for evidence, which will then go to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science.


Smyth County investigators showing evidence against Shook.

Read more:

http://www.wcyb.com/news/hayleigh-wilson-in-court-as-defendant/34055318