Suspect in Knox County missing girl case was Georgia sex offender
EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF) – An 11-year-old girl missing from Knox County was found safe early Friday morning in Hamilton County. Authorities say the man responsible for her disappearance is now dead.
Aubriauna Mays, an 11-year-old girl from Knox County, who was found safe in Hamilton County after being the subject of an endangered child alert. (From: TBI)
Aubriauna Mays had been missing since Tuesday from the Halls area, according to the Knox County’s Sheriff Office (KCSO). Juvenile Detectives for the KCSO began an investigation into her disappearance. Their investigation led them to Hamilton County on Thursday night.
The KCSO said they found Mays alive and safe.
Authorities identified the suspect in this case as 38-year-old Edward Ahrens.
At 8:30 p.m., the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) notified the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office that a suspect with a missing 11-year-old girl from Knoxville were possibly headed to Catoosa County.
The TBI said Knox County detectives and Catoosa County deputies followed Ahrens’ vehicle on I-75 in East Ridge as he took Exit 1.
Authorities then tried to stop Ahrens, but the TBI said Ahrens refused to comply with officers’ commands to surrender.
Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk said deputies block all four sides of Ahrens’ vehicle. Deputies said they could see the missing girl in the front passenger seat.
Deputies got out of their vehicles, but they said Ahrens drove into officers. He repeatedly rammed into their cars with his.
Knox County authorities said three deputies were struck, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
At least four officers then shot at and struck Ahrens, according to the TBI. He later died at a local hospital.
“This is another case of a young child being lured by a sexual predator through social media that could have ended a young girl’s life,” said Sheriff Sisk. “We have got to find a remedy to better protect our children.”
The TBI is now investigating this incident at the request of Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp.
In addition, the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office says one deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave while the TBI investigates.
Edward Ahrens / GA Sex Offender Registry
Ahrens’ Criminal History
Online records show more details into the suspect.
Edward Ahrens is a native of Ringgold, Georgia.
He is listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry website.
It shows he was registered as a sex offender in 2012, after having been convicted of sexual exploitation of a child.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Ahrens was convicted of nine counts of sexually exploiting a child in Catoosa County in 2008.
An affidavit from that arrest stated that Ahrens had possession of child pornography which depicted a minor in sexual acts.
He had been sentenced to 40 years in prison for those charges, but was released only after 10 years.
His probation conditions stated that he was to be on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry, and adhere to numerous guidelines including very limited to no contact with minors and strict computer usage policy.
In 2003, he pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated assault against police officers according to a Catoosa County sentencing document.
The indictment said he had threatened two separate police officers with a knife, and had assaulted them.
He had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, but only served over a year.
