Randall Pruitt, who adopted the girl, was arrested Thursday in Tennessee and charged with rape, the sheriff said.<doc-sep>Randall Lee Pruitt, 41, was arrested and jailed on the same day his 14-year-old stepdaughter was recovered in Wisconsin Missing Tenn. Teen Is Found Alive in Wis., Stepdad Who Pleaded For Safe Return on TV Is Arrested Police on Thursday found a missing 14-year-old Tennessee teen last seen 18 days earlier and charged her stepfather in connection with her disappearance. Savannah Leigh Pruitt, of Madisonville, was in “good health” after her recovery in Wisconsin, Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said at a news conference, reports Knoxville TV station WBIR. Get push notifications with news, features and more. “She is safe she is in custody, and that’s the best outcome for the situation,” he said, according to the outlet. On the same day, her adoptive father, Randall Lee Pruitt, 41, was arrested and is being held without bond in the Monroe County Jail on a single criminal charge related to the case, reports another Knoxville TV station, WATE. randall-pruett Randall Lee Pruitt | Credit: Monroe County Sheriff's Office Authorities did not reveal what led the teen to Wisconsin, but said she was believed to have been “fleeing from a bad home situation.” Police had been searching for the teen across four states after she was last seen at her home on the night of Jan. 13. Her mother, Christina Pruitt, told authorities she last spotted her daughter heading to bed between 11 and 11:30 p.m. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Hours later, between 5:15 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the teen’s two cell phones pinged in the Corbin, Kentucky, area — nearly 140 miles from her hometown, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office detectives said at an earlier press conference. Authorities previously said that they did not consider Savannah a runaway. Her bedroom window was found open and some of her sheets and articles of clothing were missing. The family was newly arrived in Monroe County, having moved back to Madisonville in late December from Lawrenceville, Georgia, where they had lived for many years, local station WSB-TV Atlanta reported. Last month Randall had joined Savannah’s mother in pleading for the teen’s safe return, according to WATE.<doc-sep>(CNN) — A 14-year-old girl who disappeared from Tennessee more than two weeks ago has been found alive in Wisconsin and her father is now charged with rape, authorities said Thursday. The girl is “doing fine,” Sheriff Tommy Jones of Monroe County, Tennessee, said Thursday. Randall Pruitt, who adopted the girl, was arrested Thursday in Tennessee and charged with rape, the sheriff said. “(The girl) would be the victim in that,” Jones said. The sheriff did not provide many details about the case in a news conference Thursday, but said there could be additional suspects. “I’m having to be vague on all my statements because this is still an ongoing investigation,” he said. “At this point, we are still investigating there’s a possibility of multiple other charges coming forth with multiple people involved.” Asked if there is a connection between the girl and the residence where she was found, Jones told reporters his office does not believe there is any relation to the person living in the Wisconsin home. Pruitt is being held with no bond and his first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s online records. CNN is not naming the girl because she is the alleged victim of sexual assault. The girl had last been seen January 13 at her home in Madisonville, in eastern Tennessee between Chattanooga and Knoxville.<doc-sep>
A missing 14-year-old girl was found alive in Wisconsin on Thursday, nearly 700 miles away from her home in Tennessee, police said. She had been reported missing earlier this month, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Thursday night. Police arrested her adoptive father, Randall Pruitt, on rape charges earlier on Thursday. "He was arrested and charged with rape. We don't believe at this time that he had any connections to her being a runaway or missing," Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones said at a press conference Thursday. "I have to be vague in all my statement because this is still an ongoing investigation." He said there is a possibility of "multiple other charges coming forward" with multiple people involved. The young girl vanished from her home in Madisonville, Tennessee, about 70 miles east of Chattanooga, on Jan. 13, police said. Her mother said she last saw her before she went to bed between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Jones said he couldn't release who she was with at the time when she was found, but he noted that she does have family in Wisconsin. He said he doesn't believe she was related to the people that she was found with. "She is safe. She is in custody so that's a very good ending to this as far as we're concerned," Jones said. "She’s had shelter, she’s been eating and , according to the information that we got back, she’s doing fine." ABC News is not identifying the teen because she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, according to police.