A 13-year-old girl from Hall County who had been missing for 10 days has been found, and her father is in custody.
“Steven Spires is in custody. Brooklyn (Smith) is with authorities,” the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety wrote on its Facebook page about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. “Thank you for all your support in making this happen.”
Brooklyn and Desire Hall, 16, had gone missing Jan. 14 in Alpharetta and were suspected to be with Spires. Authorities said they had been in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services when they disappeared. Alpharetta Public Safety spokesman George Gordon previously said he believed Brooklyn was with a caregiver family when she and Hall “intentionally” walked away.
Desire was found in a hotel parking lot in Covington by authorities on Jan. 17. An Amber Alert saying they were believed to be with Spires was issued in the early hours of Jan. 17 for the two girls.
Spires was previously charged by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office with child molestation, aggravated child molestation, statutory rape, sexual battery and sodomy.
Brooklyn had previously gone missing over the summer from Hall County before being found 11 days later. She left her Hall County residence on July 27 and was found Aug. 7.