Two men have been charged with human trafficking and kidnapping after a missing teen from Harnett County, in central North Carolina, was found in Dare County on the coast.
An Amber Alert was issued Wednesday morning for a 15-year-old girl, who had been missing since Tuesday, according to officials. The alert was canceled Thursday morning after she was found.
Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats said investigators found the girl Thursday. She appeared to be uninjured, the sheriff said, but was taken to a local hospital to make sure.
The two suspects were identified as Elihue Martin Mahler, 31, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Austyn Lee Cole, 23, of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Spectrum News 1 is not naming the teen now that she's been found.
The State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and numerous local police departments were involved in the investigation.
The suspects interacted with the teen online before her disappearance, FBI assistant special agent in charge Philip VanWynGarden said at a news conference Thursday.
When the alert was issued around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said there was concern for her safety. The teenager's mother told authorities she had last seen her daughter around 6 a.m. Tuesday at a home in Spring Lake, the sheriff's office said.
Cole and Mahler are scheduled to appear in court in Harnett County Friday morning around 9 a.m., according to the district attorney. Court records Friday morning showed the appearances had been canceled, but officials say those initial court dates have resumed.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Harnett County Sheriff's Office at 910-893-9111.