Pregnant 16-year-old vanishes with 40-year-old father of her child, Wisconsin cops say
A 40-year-old man accused of impregnating a 16-year-old girl has now been charged in her disappearance that set off an Amber Alert, Wisconsin authorities say.
Sophia Franklin was last seen at her Beaver Dam home around 9 p.m. on Feb. 2, according to the Beaver Dam Police Department. She is believed to have left around 7:45 the next morning with 40-year-old Gary Day.
According to the Wisconsin Amber Alert Program, Franklin is three months pregnant and Day is the father of her child. Police said there is a no-contact order between Day and Franklin.
Day was driving a 2014 black Buick LaCrosse and has used multiple license plates — an Arkansas BBR 20L plate and a KGW5186 Pennsylvania plate, authorities say.
Beaver Dam police described an “all hands on deck” effort to rescue the missing teenager, according to WITI.
Charges were issued Tuesday, Feb. 4, against Day, whose whereabouts remain unknown, WGBA reported. He is charged with two counts of child abduction and two counts of child enticement.
Day and Franklin began communicating online in April 2024, and he later drove to Wisconsin to pick her up and take her to Arkansas, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WITI. She returned home, but investigators said Franklin’s parents uncovered online conversations between the two in January.
The Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas said its department has “reason to believe” Day may be traveling to Austin, Arkansas.
In Austin, authorities say Day was already under investigation for crimes against children, TMJ4 reported.
Franklin is 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs 186 pounds, investigators say. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Day, authorities say, is 5 feet, 7 inches, weighing 165 pounds. He has balding blonde hair and green eyes.
“We want to make sure that she is safe and OK and that’s our number one goal right now is to bring her home safe,” Beaver Dam Police Chief John Kreuziger told TMJ4.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Beaver Dam police at 888-304-3936.
Beaver Dam is about a 65-mile drive northwest from Milwaukee. The town is more than 700 miles away from Austin.