11:25 A.M. THURSDAY UPDATE:
A 16-year-old girl reported missing from northeast Arkansas was found safe in Nebraska early Thursday, authorities said.
Trumann police said they located Arissa Farmer about 2 a.m. in O'Neill, around 800 miles from home, with a male from Dover, Tenn., she met on social media.
Chad Henson, chief of the Trumann Police Department, said the male with Farmer will appear before a federal magistrate this week on at least one count of kidnapping. His name hasn't been released.
Farmer had been missing from Trumann since about 11 p.m. Saturday, according to officers. Police said at one point that it appeared she had been drugged.
12:15 P.M. WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
The FBI has joined the search for a 16-year-old girl reported missing from northeast Arkansas, authorities said Wednesday.
Arissa Farmer was last known to be in Trumann on Saturday around 11 p.m., according to a Facebook post from the Trumann Police Department.
Police previously said the teen was seen at a rest stop in Blytheville on Sunday, but chief Chad Henson said Wednesday that they now doubt the individual seen in the surveillance video is Farmer.
Henson said authorities are working to track down multiple men Farmer was reportedly conversing with online. Farmer made statements the night she went missing that she was going to run away, according to a news release from the department.
The agencies are also following leads submitted to the family via social media, Henson added.
Henson said Farmer’s family has set a reward of more than $4,000 for information leading to finding the girl.
— Rachel Herzog
MONDAY STORY:
Authorities are looking for a 16-year-old girl reported missing in northeast Arkansas.
Arissa Farmer was last known to be in Trumann on Saturday around 11 p.m., according to a Facebook post from the Trumann Police Department.
Shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, Farmer was possibly spotted at at the welcome center on Interstate 55 in Blytheville, authorities wrote. She was reportedly seen leaving in a silver Dodge Stratus with an unknown male heading south.
Police said that it appeared that Farmer was drugged.
“She may be with someone who does not have her best interests at heart,” said Assistant Chief John Redman. He added that authorities found conversations related to sexual activity on her computer.
Farmer’s parents have issued a reward of $1,500 for their daughter's safe return, according to police.
— Polly Irungu