Amber warning 12-year-old Henry County girl has been issued to police who say she is in grave danger

Updated Saturday morning at 10:50

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office will hold a news conference Saturday at 3 p.m. to release information about Broadway’s abduction.

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Original story

Virginia State Police issued an amber warning Friday afternoon after child abduction officers said.

Ally Michelle Brudave, 12, is believed to be in serious danger and was reported missing by her family on Buset’s 2373 Reed Creek Drive at 1:45 p.m.

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

Authorities believe she was abducted by Caleb Christopher Merritt, 21, of Texas.

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

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Police believe it probably. The 2000 light green Mercury Grand Marquis is running with a Texas plate DMP-2294.

The Hayden County Sheriff’s Office fee was contacted by the Southwestern Virginia Internet Crimes against the Children’s Task Force on Thursday over a complaint of social media messages between Broadway and Merritt.

Investigators found that Marriott came with a 24-hour health facility on Greensboro Road where they were able to locate him and seize his electronic device for forensic analysis.

Upon further investigation, officials discovered that Merritt and Ally met on Instagram in December 2020, where they talked until Merritt went to Virginia in early February 2021 to visit her.

Officers found that Merritt had set up camp in a forested area behind her home and had met with her on several occasions before using the messaging app to ask her to leave her home.

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Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry said, with what he knows Thursday, he is not allowed to arrest Merritt.

“We investigated. “We drove up every avenue there, but there were no possible reasons at the time,” Perry said. “We’re just trying to defend against what we can do.”

10 News Reporter Cheyenne Dwyer gave an interview with Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry late Friday night about Eli’s abduction:

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

Perry said that while Eli may have voluntarily gone with Merritt, he is still a minor, so authorities consider this a case of child abduction.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 276-638-8751.