Amber Alert issued for Henry County 12-year-old girl police says it is in extreme danger

BASSETT, Va. Virginia state police have issued an amber warning after a child abduction authority said Friday afternoon.

12-year-old Allie Michele Broadaway is believed to be in extreme danger and was reported missing by her family at about 13:45 at Reed Creek Drive 2373 in Bassett.

Allie is about 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 107 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray James Madison University sweater and dark-colored fleece pants.

Authorities believe she was abducted by a 21-year-old Texas man, Caleb Christopher Merritt.

Merritt is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 250 pounds with brown hair and green eyes.

Police believe he may be driving a 2000 light green Mercury Grand Markies with Texas board DMP-2294.

The Sheriff’s Office of Henry County was contacted Thursday by the Southwestern Virginia Internet Crimes against Children Task Force over a complaint about social media messages exchanged between Broadaway and Merritt.

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Investigators discovered that Merritt visited a 24-hour fitness facility in Greensboro Road, where they were able to locate him and seize his electronic device for forensic analysis.

Through further investigation, authorities found that Merritt and Allie met on Instagram in December 2020, where they communicated until Merrit traveled to Virginia in early February 2021 to meet her.

Authorities discovered that Merritt had set up camp in a wooded area behind her home and met her several times before using a messaging app to tell her to leave her home.

Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry said with what they knew Thursday, they may not arrest Merritt.

“We watched. “We pushed every road that was there, but at the time there was just no probable cause,” Perry said. “We’re just trying to protect ourselves from everything we can.”

Below is an interview that 10 news reporter Shayne Dwyer conducted with Sheriff Lane Perry with Henry County on Friday night about Allie’s kidnapping:

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Authorities believe that after she was forced to leave her home, she was picked up by Merritt and has not been seen since.

Perry said that although Allie willingly went with Merritt, she was still a minor, and authorities considered it a child abduction case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff of Henry County at 276-638-8751.