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Missing Tennessee High student found during meth lab bust in New Hampshire

Bristol Herald Courier, June 7, 2013

A Tennessee High student missing since mid May was found Wednesday night by U.S. Marshals in New Hampshire, the agency said Thursday.

Laken Seats, 17, was reported missing on May 19 from her aunt's home in Bristol, Va., her mother Theresa Stout told the Bristol Herald Courier Thursday evening, and was recovered by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at 300 Village Circle Way in Manchester, N.H.

"We are just so glad she is here with us now," Stout said in a telephone interview. Stout and other family members left early Thursday morning for New Hampshire to pick-up her missing daughter who was in the custody of state juvenile officials.

A working methamphetamine lab was discovered during the operation to recover Seats along with three other individuals who had transported the girl to New Hampshire. Those included Michael Fleenor, 48; Jackie Barr, 45; and Cody Vinson, 22 all of Bristol, Va.

According to Stout, Vinson was the girl's boyfriend and helped the girl run away last month.

Fleenor is charged with possession and manufacturing of methamphetamine by Hillsborough County, N.H. Sheriff's Office, according to the report.

Barr and Vinson are being held on fugitive from justice charges stemming from outstanding warrants filed in Bristol, Va. and Tenn., the report said.

The teen had been entered into a database run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The agency received information about Seats' location in the Manchester area and worked with the U.S. Marshals Task Force in her recovery, officers said.

"We are pleased that we have recovered this endangered runaway who was in a difficult situation and can now be reunited with her family," U.S. Marshal David Cargill, Jr. said in a release.