Brown, Englehardt reported missing but later found safe

Thanks to the dedicated work of the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department, with aid from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and Mountain Home Police Department, the families of two teens now know that the girls are safe. The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department posted the photos above to its Facebook page over the weekend, informing its followers that 18-year-old Sabrina Engelhardt and 14-year-old Kaitlyn Brown were reported missing by family members. They urged anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact the OCSD. 

According to the Ozark County sheriff’s report, the mother of 14-year-old Kaitlyn Brown called the 911 dispatch line at 1:49 a.m. Saturday, July 22, and said that she’d received a call from the girl’s grandmother who said she’d awoke to let their dog out and noticed that the girl was missing from her room at the grandmother’s house. 

The mother told officers that the girl’s location setting was turned off on her phone, and her bag was also gone. The woman believed the girl may have left with another female who she had been hanging around with a lot lately. The woman said that person’s phone also had the location settings turned off. 

The mother said she was going out to look for the girl, but she wanted the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department to be aware of the situation in case they came in contact with her. 

An officer spoke with the mother the next morning, and she told him that neither she nor the grandmother had been able to find the girl and neither had heard from her. She was entered as a missing runaway at that time. 

Various other entries in the sheriff’s report show that the girl’s friends provided some insight into who the girl may have left with, and the mother and deputies contacted several people in an attempt to track down the girl. The Mountain Home Police Department and Baxter County Sheriff’s Department were also involved, providing assistance in finding individuals who the girls might be with and looking for them there. Among the information that they’d received was that the pair were going to California, and another person said that the 14-year-old girl was with her boyfriend in Mountain Home, Arkansas. A conversation with Engelhardt’s foster parents showed that she’d left her window open with a note that said goodbye. Brown and Engelhardt knew each other from summer school and church camp, the report says. 

Officers continued to track down leads and attempt to ping the girls cell phones, but were unsuccessful. The investigation continued. 

At 3 p.m. Monday, July 24, the OCSD posted to its Facebook page that both Engelhardt and Brown had been found safe.  Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin told the Times that he received a call from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office just before the post was made informing him that Engelhardt and Brown had been picked up by a Baxter County officer and were being taken to the BCSD. The pair were reportedly found walking down a roadway in the Mountain Home, Arkansas, area when the officer spotted them. 

The mother and grandmother of Brown, the 14-year-old girl, left to get her and bring her home. 

Engelhardt, the 18-year-old, was arrested by Baxter County Sheriff’s Department on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, resisting arrest and threatening force. She is being held on a $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Baxter County court at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 3. 

Martin says that the investigation is ongoing, and there will likely be charges filed against Engelhardt in Ozark County as well. 

“It’s a happy outcome. When it comes to kids, and I still consider an 18-year-old a kid, when it comes to kids, it’s scary - especially with the world the way it is today. Kids are being exploited every single day,” he said.