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Hailey
Missing girl found, father apprehended, suspect at large.
#MasonCountyNews
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
LUDINGTON — Hailey Hunter-Rose Fargo, the 2-year-old allegedly taken by her father Mark Alan Saporita-Fargo, was found Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 10:45 a.m. near the town of Montgomery, Michigan.
Saporita-Fargo, 47, is currently lodged in the Hillsdale County Jail, according to Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole. Saporita-Fargo’s accomplice, Jeffrey Alan Miller, remains at large. Miller, 50, is described as 5’11”, 150 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. He has a tattoo of an eagle on his back and a 3-inch-long scar on his left elbow, according to Cole.
Saporita-Fargo and Miller were traveling in Miller’s black Ford Taurus, Cole said.
Saporita-Fargo
Both Saporita-Fargo and Miller are being charged with conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment, which is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison .
Hailey was taken to a hospital in Hillsdale County for a routine check-up, Cole said.
Saporita-Fargo was scheduled to appear in 51st Circuit Court in Ludington Tuesday morning for a third-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) trial. Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said his office is seeking a warrant for absconding bond against Saporita-Fargo. The charge stems from an incident that occurred Oct. 31, 2014 involving a teenage victim. Hailey was not the victim in that case, he said.
Miller
“Law enforcement across Michigan have been working throughout the night and this morning in an effort to return Hailey to her foster care home where she went missing from yesterday afternoon,” said Cole during a press conference Tuesday at the sheriff’s office. “I am happy to report that at 10:45 a.m. Michigan State Police troopers from the Jackson post and Hillsdale sheriff’s deputies recovered Hailey and have taken Mark Fargo into custody.”
Saporita-Fargo failed to return Hailey to a foster care home in Muskegon County following an unsupervised visit Monday.
A Mason County sheriff’s van is en route to the Hillsdale County Jail to pick up Saporita-Fargo and transport him to the Mason County Jail.
The investigation is a joint effort involving the Michigan State Police, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the Mason County Prosecutor’s Office. The FBI office in Grand Rapids is also assisting in the investigation.
Investigators contacted the Michigan Intelligence Operations Center (MIOC), requesting an Amber Alert. “It was determined by MIOC the criteria for Amber Alert were not met, however an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA) was granted and law enforcement state-wide were alerted,” Cole said.
“This morning, a citizen called the Hillsdale County Central Dispatch and advised them they thought they had seen the child and one of the adults at a residence near the town of Montgomery, Michigan, which I am told is down by the state line in Hillsdale County,” the sheriff said. “A Michigan state trooper and a Hillsdale county deputy responded to that wellbeing check, and we are happy to report they found Fargo and they got Hailey.”
Miller remains at large. MCP will provide updated information as the story unfolds.
This post is copyrighted 2017 © by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454, and cannot be re-used in anyway without the expressed written consent of the editor-in-chief.
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