KNOX COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18)– Three people have been arrested and charged with human trafficking after deputies say a missing 16-year-old Kentucky girl was found in the back of a U-Haul truck in Cincinnati.
A Knox County deputy had received a report of the missing teen on April 20, 2019. The next day, he was notified that the Cincinnati Police Department had taken the girl into custody after receiving a tip that a juvenile was being kept in the back of a U-Haul truck in a parking lot. That day, Deputy Hunter Luttrell travelled to Cincinnati to pick up the girl. After interviewing her and talking with officers, he learned that she had been taken by three adults who they say lured the teen away from her home under false pretenses.
The three adults are Michael Nason, 34, Tiffany Cheek, 29, and Carl Hickman, 27.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Department said that Cheek had fake papers saying that she had become the teen’s guardian and the teen believed they were real and left with her.
Police in Cincinnati arrested Hickman on drug charges and did not charge the other two adults.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Department said that Nason was in the back of the U-Haul with the juvenile and he has been charged with Rape-3rd degree in the case. He has also been charged with Rape-3rd Degree, Unlawful Transaction with a Minor, Custodial Interference-felony, Kidnapping-minor, Human Trafficking-victim under 18 years of age, Unlawful Imprisonment-1st Degree, Trafficking in Controlled Substance-1st Degree and 3rd Degree. He was also wanted on a Knox County Arrest for Flagrant Non-Support.
He was arrested on April 22 at 11:30 p.m.
Tiffany Cheek age 29 of Corbin, KY was also arrested and charged with Unlawful Transaction with a Minor, Custodial Interference-felony, Kidnapping-minor, Human Trafficking-victim under 18 years of age, Unlawful Imprisonment-1st Degree, Trafficking in Controlled Substance-1st Degree and 3rd Degree.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Department said that Hickman will be facing the same charges as Cheek when he is extradited back to Kentucky.
Nason and Cheek were lodged in the Knox County Detention Center.
