A North Carolina man wanted in connection with the alleged kidnapping of two juvenile girls was arrested in Bulloch County Tuesday after deputies used license plate reader technology to locate the suspect vehicle.
According to the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received information from the Georgia State Patrol on August 18 regarding a possible kidnapping suspect traveling toward Bulloch County from North Carolina.
Authorities were provided with the license plate number associated with the suspect vehicle and used the Flock Safety camera system to locate it.
Deputies and investigators with the Sheriff’s Office subsequently conducted a traffic stop on Highway 67 near Josh Deal Road. All occupants of the vehicle were safely detained.
Investigators then contacted detectives with the Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office and the China Grove Police Department in North Carolina. Bulloch County authorities were advised that two girls, ages 11 and 15, had been reported kidnapped and that the vehicle’s driver, 21-year-old Seth Tallmadge, was the suspect in the North Carolina investigation.
Tallmadge was arrested on a kidnapping warrant issued by the Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office. He was transported to the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and is expected to have an extradition hearing before he can be returned to North Carolina.
The two juvenile girls were safely recovered and later reunited with their parents.
Bulloch County Sheriff Noel Brown praised the deputies and investigators involved for their quick response and teamwork, which he said helped bring the incident to a safe conclusion. Brown also noted that the arrest marked the second time in less than 24 hours that Corporal Tanner White and members of his shift were involved in rescuing victims in a reported kidnapping incident.
The Sheriff’s Office had responded early Tuesday morning to an unrelated incident in the Register area that authorities said involved a possible carjacking and a person being held against his will. That incident prompted vehicle pursuits, crashes and searches for fleeing suspects.
Brown also thanked the Georgia State Patrol, Yadkin County Sheriff’s Office and China Grove Police Department for their assistance and coordination in Tuesday’s kidnapping investigation.
Tallmadge’s arrest stems from a warrant issued in North Carolina. The allegations against him have not been adjudicated in court.
