Two Men Arrested In Amber Alert Case

By John Larson

Two Quemado men have been arrested in connection with a disappearance of a minor female in Gillette, Wyoming.
According to an Amber Alert update released Sunday, Apr. 11, Jesse E. Calhoun, 22, and his father Barry E. Calhoun, 69, had driven from Quemado to Gillette, Wyo., where they met the 14 year-old Thursday, Apr. 8.
Gillette Police Det. Sgt. Chuck Deaton said the girl’s parents reported her missing Friday morning. She was last seen at about 10 p.m. the night before.
“Through our investigation, we became aware through comments from her friends that she had been communicating with Jesse Calhoun on a social networking site on the Internet,” Deaton told the Mountain Mail. “We decided to check out the motels here and found that the two had checked into one using Barry Calhoun’s identification. The motel registration listed the men driving a white 1989 Toyota Camry with a New Mexico license plate number.”
After the original Amber Alert went out, the car was located by Trinidad, Colo. police at a motel in Trinidad, and the teenager was found safe. She was turned over to the Colorado Department of Human Services and has been returned to her family in Gillette.
Jesse Calhoun was arrested and taken into custody just after 3 a.m. by Trinidad police on a felony charge of interfering with the custody of a child. He is awaiting extradition back to Campbell County in Wyoming.
Deaton said Barry Calhoun had apparently taken a bus back to Quemado after his Camry broke down in Trinidad.
Catron County Sheriff Ian Fletcher was alerted by New Mexico State Police of Barry Calhoun’s whereabouts. He was arrested in Quemado on a fugitive warrant Sunday and taken to the jail at the Sheriff’s office in Reserve.
As of press time Wednesday, Barry Calhoun is remains incarcerated at the Catron County jail.
“Right now we’re waiting for the extradition order to come in,” Fletcher said.

Two Men Arrested In Amber Alert Case