MARSHALL — Marshall Police Chief Mike Boone recognized one of his officers April 15 for his actions after a 16-year-old Madison girl was reported missing last month.
Officer Tori Murdoch was recognized by Boone during his report to the Marshall Town Board on April 15 at Town Hall.
According to Boone, a 16-year-old girl was reported missing on March 22 after leaving Madison High School and was last seen near the Marshall Ingles.
Boone said the 16-year-old girl was kidnapped and transported to near Richmond, Virginia, by three men from Western North Carolina.
The three North Carolina men were arrested and charged on March 22. A fourth man, a Virginia resident, remains at large but has charges pending, Boone said.
After the girl’s parents called Madison County 911, law enforcement officers from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office protested the jurisdiction of the case, Boone said.
“Officer Murdoch, instead of arguing with them, he didn’t hesitate, he just started working on the case,” Boone said. “Officer Murdoch is a great asset to this department and never gives less than 100%.”
According to Boone, Murdoch charged and arrested the three individuals for transporting the girl out of state.
Murdoch worked with Marshall Police Sgt. Kenny Brown, as well as the Henrico County Police Department, near Richmond, Virginia. The girl was returned home the same evening, Boone said.
Without Murdoch’s quick actions, that might not have been the case, Boone said.
“The young lady was located several hours later that night, but that night, and she was returned home safely,” Boone said. “Because of what Officer Murdoch had done, there is no doubt that she would not have been brought back that night. Tori just grabbed the bull by the horns and ran with it. If he hadn’t, she would have been able to reach her. Well, she was close to her destination, where this man lured her.”
Murdoch said the situation was “stressful” given the nature of the case.
“I had to keep scrolling thirty to thirty miles. All we could do was ping her phone, and then scroll twenty to thirty miles to find which agency it was, call them, and call a real person on the phone, get something sent to the computers,” Murdoch said. “A number of times, probably three or four times, by the time we did that, boom, they blew through, until I finally got someone on the ground, an officer on his phone. .’
Murdoch said the defendants “drove everywhere like a pinball” and were eventually apprehended in a church parking lot.
“You can imagine every law enforcement agency reaching out along the way, and then you ping again at a different location,” Boone said. “So it wasn’t just calling an agency and saying, ‘Hey, you’re looking for this vehicle.’”
Murdoch praised a Virginia law enforcement dispatcher for his work in helping locate the girl.
“This guy in the control room did incredible things. He looked like a NASA controller,” Murdoch said. “He drew a line on the screen and made a triangle. I hear him say, ‘I guarantee they’re right there behind that church,’ and we got them.”
Boone and Murdoch said it is unclear whether the girl’s kidnapping is connected to a larger human trafficking operation.
“We’re not sure if it was part of a human trafficking operation, but either way it wasn’t good,” Murdoch said. “Again, it’s one thing if your son starts doing certain things. But this is something completely different.’
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Murdoch honored after swift actions in kidnapping of local 16-year-old
