Multi-State Search for Missing Florida 4-Year-Old Possibly Spotted in Tennessee

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Tennessee Bureau of Investigation(LAKELAND, Fla.) — A missing 4-year-old Florida girl may have been spotted in Tennessee with a man who authorities believe abducted her. The sighting has prompted a search stretching across several states in the southeast.

The sheriff of her home area in Polk County, Florida said the girl is in danger and emphasized, “It’s time to find her.”

Authorities said 4-year-old Rebecca Lewis, who went missing from her Lakeland, Florida home Saturday morning, may be with a 31-year-old man whose current legal name is “West Wild Hogs.” The Polk County Sheriff’s office said Hogs was formerly named Matthew Clark Pybus.

The Sheriff’s office posted this video of the two at a Florida McDonald’s Saturday:

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Monday morning that the girl is in immediate danger and he urged Hogs to let her go.

“Don’t you hurt that baby,” he said. “Turn her over to responsible citizens.”

Hogs does not have a cellphone, Judd said, so law enforcement has no way to track him in real time. He is also a former truck driver who is familiar with interstate highways. Judd added that Hogs is believed to have bi-polar disorder and depression, but does not have a criminal history.

On Saturday night, the two were seen at a gas station in Forsyth, Georgia, about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta, the sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page. The department said “Rebecca was in good health.”

The following night, Sunday, the Bureau of Investigation in Tennessee said there was a “credible, possible sighting” of the two near Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County — an area near the Kentucky border, in east Tennessee.

Judd said that Hogs has since driven from the Kentucky state line back down to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was spotted at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. He does not believe Hogs is in Tennessee at this point.

Amber alerts for Rebecca have spanned five states, the sheriff’s office said: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office urged anyone who sees Rebecca, or anyone with information, to call 911 or the sheriff’s office at 863-298-6200.

Rebecca is described as having blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 3 feet tall and weighs 30 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink dress.

West Wild Hogs is described as having red hair and blue-green eyes. He stands at 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. He has an “L” shaped scar on the left side of his head, a tattoo of a blue cross and another tattoo of a Chinese symbol.

The two may be driving in a 2012 silver Nissan Versa with Alabama handicap tag number 4JL26. The car has a magnetic animal rescue paw on the driver side of the trunk.

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