Amber Alert (page 2)

Big Tex

Online at: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa050215_wz_amberalert.ad8246e7.html

Plano teen found safe in Arkansas

02:42 PM CST on Tuesday, February 15, 2005

By APRIL KINSER / WFAA.com

A Plano East junior kidnapped by an ex-boyfriend was found safe in Arkansas Tuesday after a nationwide Amber Alert was issued, Plano police said.

Shauna Leigh Owens, 17, was reported missing after she went to see James Vernon McCann, 19, on Monday.

Plano police spokesman Carl Duke said officers in Morrilton, Ark., spotted McCann?s vehicle after a description was distributed to law enforcement agencies. Officers pursued and stopped the car and took both McCann and Shauna into custody about noon, he said.

McCann was being held by the Conway County Sheriff?s Department on an unrelated aggravated assault charge from Plano. He was accused Saturday of threatening someone with a knife, Duke said.

Meanwhile, the district attorney will decide whether McCann will be charged with state or federal kidnapping charges, Duke said.

"It's not over just because she was recovered," said Lori Bailey, a spokeswoman for the FBI. "We are going to continue to pursue kidnapping charges."

Johnny McMillan, who identified himself as Shauna's mother's boyfriend of nine years, said he had no idea why the two would have been in Arkansas.

"Praise Jesus, please just bring my baby home," he said.

Police and FBI officials said they believed McCann, who lives in Portland, Ore., and Shauna met over the Internet. It was unclear why he was in Texas. Also Online

Video: Cynthia Vega reports

McMillan said Shauna dated McCann for six weeks last summer. Although McCann didn't do anything violent or specifically objectionable, McMillan said, he still had a "feeling" about him.

"I didn't like him," he said. "I thought he was out of the picture.

McMillan said Shauna never discussed why the relationship ended, nor she did she seem upset. He added that he believed that after the couple broke up, Shauna got back together with a previous boyfriend.

She would not have left with McCann voluntarily, McMillan said.

Duke said Shauna's current boyfriend notified police Monday evening that she had gone somewhere to discuss some issues with McCann. Then McCann called the boyfriend to tell him he had kidnapped Shauna, Duke said.

The Amber Alert was issued after Owens family members told police that McCann had intimidated them.

"He has made threats against the family. He's recently made threats against some of his friends," Duke said. "He's been acting very strangely, according to what we've been told."

Investigators were concerned that McCann could be dangerous or even violent.

"Shauna had broken up with him recently," Duke said. "According to his friends, he's been very distraught."

Bailey said the case should highlight the danger of allowing their children to meet people online.

"When you have a meeting of two strangers over the Internet, and later on it turns into an abduction, it's a valuable lesson for everyone to learn," Bailey said. "This was a fortunate situation where everyone turned out safe."

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