Two Tennessee Children Found Safe in Dalton; Two Arrested

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. – Two children reported abducted from Mooresburg, Tennessee, were found safe in Dalton Thursday night, and two people accused of abducting them were arrested, according to the Dalton Police Department.

Dalton police were contacted by the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department in Rogersville, Tennessee, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, at approximately 8:45 p.m. Oct. 1.

Authorities were seeking the children after a FLOCK camera system detected a vehicle believed to be connected to the case in Dalton. Police were provided with a description of the suspect vehicle, a silver 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Approximately 30 minutes later, at about 9:15 p.m., Dalton patrol officers located the vehicle in the parking lot of the Econo Lodge at 1507 N. Tibbs Road.

Officers and a Dalton police detective located one of the suspects, Rebecca J. Calfee, in the hotel lobby with the two children. Calfee was arrested on a Tennessee custodial interference warrant.

While investigators were interviewing Calfee, officers located a second suspect, Steven Kirkpatrick, in the hotel parking lot. He was also arrested on a Tennessee custodial interference warrant.

Both suspects were transported to the Whitfield County Jail, where they were charged with fugitive from justice under Georgia law.

Kirkpatrick also faces a charge of possession of a Schedule III controlled substance.

The two children were found unharmed and were turned over to Whitfield County DFACS while arrangements were made for their return to Tennessee.

“Locating these children would not have been possible without the use of the FLOCK camera system as well as the cooperation of local and state law enforcement agencies,” said Dalton Police Department Capt. Alan Woods.

The investigation remains under the jurisdiction of authorities in Tennessee.