3 girls who ran away from Maryville group home found in ClarksvilleKnox News, July 1, 2011---+---+---
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In a flurry of multiagency activity, three girls who ran away from a Maryville group home were rounded up in Middle Tennessee on Thursday morning.
The girls, ages 12 to 14, had run away Monday night in a stolen truck, which was later found in Clarksville, authorities said.
At about 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Alexis Sullivan, 12, walked into the Austin Peay State University Police station and said she was turning herself in.
About two hours later, Shelby Nunley, 12, was found near some railroad tracks by Montgomery County sheriff's deputies who were acting on a tip, according to Clarksville police spokesman Jim Knoll.
The last of the three, Brittany Mostella, 14, was caught at about 10:10 a.m. in a housing project by Clarksville police officers, Knoll said.
The girls were reported missing at about 7:50 p.m. Monday from the Johnson Group Home in Maryville.
The employee told police that several girls said Mostella and Nunley were planning to stab Sullivan with a pair of scissors once they ran away, the Maryville Daily Times reported. A pair of scissors was reported missing.
The girls were then seen at about 11 p.m. Monday at a gas station in Rockwood, just west of Oak Ridge, driving a red and white 1995 Chevy K1500 pickup that had been stolen from a funeral home parking lot, according to Maryville Deputy Police Chief Greg Cooke.
The investigation turned to Clarksville when one of the girls contacted a family member there.
All three girls were unharmed, Knoll said. Clarksville police are coordinating their return to state custody.
Johnson Group Home is a residential facility for troubled girls. It has a "Level 3" classification, which means it's for youth with "serious mental health" needs, said Tennessee Department of Children's Services spokesman Rob Johnson.
---+---+---
They are tiny girls and I wouldn't believe gossip about the scissor for a second. In an all girl environment and gossip flows
worse than a henhouse.
