A missing Florida teen was found in critical condition after her alleged captor, a sex offender, led police on a harrowing high-speed chase in Louisiana.
Ashley Lyon, 16, went missing June 11. Her family said she is bipolar and was off her medication. Authorities in Florida believed that Lyon was in the company of Steven Patrick Myers, 41, a registered sex offender.
That appears to have been the case. On Wednesday night, patrons at a truck stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana, notified local authorities after they spotted Myers with Lyon. When police arrived, they saw the two individuals in a flatbed pickup truck and attempted a traffic stop. That's when the chase started.
Myers refused to pull over and then forced police to chase him for approximately 40 miles.
During the pursuit, Myers reportedly struck 4 other vehicles in some type of attempt to create road blockage behind him. Deputies managed to deploy multiple stop sticks and were successful in deflating the trucks tires.
Raw video captured by driver Doug Fremin shows Myers' truck with huge showers of sparks shooting from underneath as the suspect continued to drive on the highway with deflated tires. Eventually the truck became disabled, but the drama didn't stop there.
According to police, Myers hopped out of the cab holding a knife and yelled at police to shoot him. Police dogs were released and subdued him. He was treated from apparent self-inflicted knife wounds and dog bites at an area hospital.
Lyon was found in the truck with multiple stab wounds. She was listed in critical condition at a Lafayette hospital on Thursday.
Lyon's family told the Tampa Bay Times that their daughter was friends with Myers' sons. They thought it was strange that he would hang out with the teens and go skateboarding with them, but they did not realized that Myers had spent time in prison and was a registered sex offender.
"She doesn't need to be around this guy," father Roger Lyon told the newspaper on Monday. "He's a sexual predator."
After their daughter vanished, the family discovered more than 2,000 text messages between Lyon and Myers, including dozens in the days leading up to her disappearance.
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