Indiana woman missing for two months found alive, arrests made

[September 08, 2014]  By Kevin Murphy
 
 (Reuters) - An Indiana woman missing for two months and apparently held captive has been found alive, and authorities have arrested two people in connection with her July disappearance, police said on Sunday.

Joelle Lockwood, 30, went missing on July 9 and was apparently held in a residence in Indiana's Posey County, the Evansville Police Department said in a statement. Lockwood had last been seen in Evansville before disappearing.

She was freed after a man visiting the suspects got her out of the residence and brought her to Evansville, where detectives interviewed her then went to the residence and arrested the suspects, police said.

"Lockwood was reunited with her loved ones on Saturday evening," police said.

The identities of those arrested, along with details on Lockwood's confinement and rescue will be released by the Posey County prosecutor's office, police said. A call to the prosecutor's office on Sunday was not immediately returned.

"Thank you everyone for all their efforts with helping find Joelle!!!," a Facebook post on a support page that offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to her recovery read on Saturday. "JOELLE IS FOUND!!! SHE IS ALIVE AND WELL."

Authorities have also been exploring any possible connection between the Lockwood case and the Aug. 15 disappearance of Kristy Kelley, 27, in Boonville, about 20 miles from Evansville, the Evansville Courier & Press reported last month.

Evansville police did not mention the Kelley case in their statement and a spokesperson could not be reached for comment on Sunday. A dispatcher for the Warrick County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday that Kelley was still missing.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

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