Elrod-Ausbrook is a longtime paramedic in Indiana, a court appointed advocate for children, and a former 911 dispatcher. Her husband, Bradley Ausbrook, is a sergeant with the State of Illinois Department of Correction.
Both have received training in human trafficking signs and they carry crayons, wrapped in paper, which they leave in public restrooms and other places so people who need help can leave a message.
Elrod-Ausbrook slipped one of those small crayon and paper packets into the coat pocket of the girl she met at a Trace Adkins concert at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville on December 22nd, 2019.
Elrod-Ausbrook says they sat at a table with three other couples and the girl, who was with a couple who appeared to be in their 60s.
The girl said her name was Amy. She initially claimed she was "from out West," but the older man she was with said to her, “You know better than that,” according to Elrod-Ausbrook. The older man then announced that he, Amy and the older woman they were with were all from the Knoxville, Tennessee, area.
Elrod-Ausbrook said the older man refused to have their picture taken when a photographer stopped by their table.
Elrod-Ausbrook said the girl seemed out of place compared to everyone else in the room.
“Her behavior was over the top excited. She sang along with the Christmas music (playing in the) background. She started talking about different things,” Elrod-Ausbrook said.
Elrod-Ausbrook said the older man then pulled out his cell phone and appeared to text someone. The older woman he was with then picked up her phone and appeared to read a text.
At that point, the older woman got up and took the girl with her, presumably to the restroom, Elrod-Ausbrook said. They were gone for about 10 minutes, she said, adding that the older man also got up and left the table at one point.
“When they returned to the table, Amy was a totally different person now,” Elrod-Ausbrook said. “She didn’t say a peep. Every bit of joyfulness she had was not there.”
She didn’t join in on any of the songs when Trace Adkins started performing. Elrod-Ausbrook asked her why.
“She didn’t get a chance to reply. The (older) female replied, ‘She has to teach a church group,’” Elrod-Ausbrook said, adding that she was confused by the older woman’s response, which didn’t seem to relate to the question.
At the end of the event, Bradley Ausbrook helped the girl, who was sitting to his left, put on her coat.
“She leaned in and gave me a hug,” Elrod-Ausbrook said, adding that she slipped a crayon and paper packet into the girl’s coat pocket and whispered to her, “If you’re in trouble, leave a note.”
Elrod-Ausbrook said the girl squeezed her tight and then the older man walked up, grabbed the girl by the elbow and they walked away.
Everyone left sitting at the table talked about the odd situation after that, and one of them mentioned that the girl looked familiar.
When Elrod-Ausbrook went through her Facebook page when she got home, she saw a post about Tylee and realized she looked a lot like Amy.
Elrod-Ausbrook says Amy’s face was a bit thinner and her hair a little lighter than the photo she saw of Tylee, but her eyes and nose were the same.
Elrod-Ausbrook enlarged the photo she found on Facebook, cutting out the information about the missing children, and showed it to her husband.
When he saw the image, he too, thought it was Amy, according to Elrod-Ausbrook:
“He said, ‘Where did you find her at? Is she OK?’”
Elrod-Ausbrook reported the possible sighting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on December 24th.
She later learned that the other two couples that had been sitting at their table also saw the photo of Tylee on social media, believed it to be Amy, and contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Elrod-Ausbrook also contacted Rexburg police on December 28th, but she says neither the police nor the national missing children's group called her back to get more details. No one called back the other couples either, she said.
Frustrated and worried about the girl, Elrod-Ausbrook finally posted a note asking for help on the Missing Juveniles & Adults in Idaho Facebook page on January 7th, of this year.
“I have called two different numbers and no (one) from law enforcement has been back in contact with me or my husband,” she stated in her post. “So what are we assuming about these children. This has been upsetting to both myself and husband.”
She was then contacted by a relative of Tylee’s contacted her and asked her to call the FBI, which she did. Elrod-Ausbrook said the FBI called her back a couple of days later.
Although she’s grateful someone finally responded to her possible sighting of Tylee, Elrod-Ausbrook worries the delay in getting a response from authorities will make it harder for law enforcement to track the girl she saw in Nashville down, find out who she is and determine if she’s OK. She hopes they will find a way to respond sooner to possible sightings of the youths in the future.
7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan are the children of Lori Vallow-Daybell, and they have not been seen since September 2019. Lori failed to bring them to Rexburg authorities, after a court order gave her the deadline of 5 p.m. January 31, 2020.
Their mother recently married Chad Daybell — just weeks after his previous wife died. Originally ruled as natural causes, police are now investigating it as a suspicious death. Autopsy results haven't been released.
Their mother recently married Chad Daybell — just weeks after his previous wife died. Originally ruled as natural causes, police are now investigating it as a suspicious death. Autopsy results haven't been released.
Lori's own husband died at the hands of her brother, who also died just before the children went missing.
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