Aubrey Acree, Missing North Carolina Teen Found Safe, Abductor Jacob Gardea Arrested

The 13-year-old North Carolina missing teen, Aubrey Joelle Acree, was found alive and safe in Oklahoma by the FBI and Rutherford County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday.

Acree, who went missing Monday, was found safe in Checotah, Oklahoma, around 11 p.m. local time Wednesday (12 a.m. EST Thursday).

Officials arrested 23-year-old Jacob Gardea of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who now faces charges from North Carolina for abduction of a child. Additional charges could be pending, the FBI said.

North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles helped get the exact identity of the suspect's vehicle.

According to an FBI press release, "Additional investigative work helped pinpoint the location of the vehicle and additional law enforcement partners were deployed to successfully recover the victim more than 900 miles away from her home,” CBS 17 reported.

The release added the teen’s family will be notified and arrangements would be made to take her back to North Carolina.

"Law enforcement is grateful to a keen eyewitness who helped begin our investigative process with a strong lead that brought us to this joyful outcome," the release read.

Acree was reported missing by her mother on Monday. On Tuesday evening, officials said they had identified a vehicle in connection with the case. CCTV footage of the suspect's vehicle, which was recorded at the intersection of Harris Henrietta Road and US-221A in Rutherford County, North Carolina, was released Wednesday.

“Really at this time we know that there’s a 13 year old young lady who’s not at home with her loved ones where she needs to be. We don’t know if she actively started to leave and someone assisted her but we do know she’s not where she needs to be and any assistance is greatly appreciated,” Rutherford County Sheriff Chris Francis had said during the investigation, Fox Carolina reported.