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Missing Persons

Missing North Carolina girl, 3, found safe; father charged with killing mother

Riley Harper Bockes, 3, found safe at Tennessee motel

By Stephen Sorace Fox News
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A missing 3-year-old North Carolina girl was found safe in Tennessee late Wednesday and her father was arrested for murder. Authorities said they believe 50-year-old Brent James Bockes killed his wife and then fled with the child earlier that day.

An Amber Alert was issued for Riley Harper Bockes after she went missing in Sanford, located about 42 miles southwest of Raleigh, and her mother was found dead in their home on Wednesday afternoon, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee said in a news release.

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Sanford police believed Brent James Bockes took Riley Harper Bockes and that the two were traveling in a stolen burgundy 2013 Toyota Avalon.

A missing 3-year-old North Carolina girl was found safe in Tennessee late Wednesday and her father was arrested for murder after killing his wife and fleeing with the child, authorities said.

Riley Harper Bockes, 3, was found safe in Tennessee late Wednesday and her father, Brent James Bockes, was arrested and charged in the killing of his wife and Riley's mother, authorities said. (Sanford Police Department / Rutherford County Sheriff's Office)

Investigators tracked down Riley and Bockes after a vehicle matching that description was involved in a crash on I-24 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, around 8 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. 

Bockes fled the scene of the crash with Riley, but the sheriff’s office said that deputies and K-9s tracked them to a Select Inn Motel with the help of Murfreesboro police.

Riley was found unharmed. The sheriff’s office later posted a photo of the child eating pizza with deputies to Facebook.

A missing 3-year-old North Carolina girl was found safe in Tennessee late Wednesday and her father was arrested for murder after killing his wife and fleeing with the child, authorities said.

Riley Harper Bockes ate pizza with deputies after she was found safe in Tennessee on Wednesday night. (Rutherford County Sheriff's Office)

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Bockes was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and Riley’s mother, Deana Michelle Bockes, authorities said. He was also charged with larceny of a motor vehicle.

Deana Michelle Bockes’ cause of death was not immediately released, pending results from a medical examiner.