May 3rd, 2022 – 11:50 AM
The Gordon County Sheriff’s Office –
Sheriff Mitch Ralston, along with officials from the neighboring Murray County Sheriff’s Office, had the pleasure of recognizing a trio of local citizens for being instrumental in locating and rescuing a pair of lost children last week.
Camryn (age 13) and Emily (age 11) Pressley were reported missing from their Murray County home on Maple Grove Road near the Murray County/Gordon County line on April 26th. Authorities in Murray County initiated an investigation/search there, but the following day the pair were reported as being seen by a reliable witness, Ms. Amber Harris, in the Evergreen Community a short distance inside Gordon County. The Gordon County Sheriff’s Office then deployed a helicopter, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a tracking dog, and deputies on foot and on ATVs, concentrating the search near Evergreen Church. The children remained missing until the next afternoon until two citizens, Kenisha Dobson and Delilah Mulkey, who were searching for the children alongside authorities, found Camryn Pressley on the roadside in the Evergreen area. They kept the boy with them until the arrival of deputies a few minutes later. Camryn subsequently led officers from Gordon and Murray counties to his sister who was found sleeping in a rugged, heavily wooded area about a mile west of Evergreen Church. The children had made a ‘campsite’ which was not visible from the air.
Sheriff Ralston presented Ms. Harris, Ms. Dobson, and Ms. Mulkey all with ‘Citizen Service’ medals and certificates, and gift cards from The Sheriff’s Auxiliary. Major Tim Bell, representing Murray County Sheriff Jimmy Davenport, also presented each lady with a Certificate of Commendation. Sheriff Ralston enthusiastically praised the women, saying that each of them “were directly responsible for the safe return of the Pressley children, going the extra mile in both aiding the emergency responders and actively searching for kids, that citizens like them were the ‘eyes and ears’ of local law enforcement and that they were each a credit to their communities.”