Authorities still searching for suspect

April 15, 2008

Sheriff Kent Harris said Monday afternoon that his office is still searching for Fermin Torres Hernandez. Hernandez is wanted in Unicoi County for especially aggravated kidnapping. He is also wanted in Washington County for the rape of a child.

According to arrest warrants issued on April 6, Hernandez and a co-defendant Augustin Miguel Manuel, “did knowingly and unlawfully remove a juvenile female under thirteen years of age from the care and control of her parents.”

Hernandez and Manuel allegedly picked up the juvenile girl after she left a church service in Erwin and took her to three different locations in Washington County. The girl was reported missing Sunday evening and was located in Washington County on Monday, April 7.

After the girl was returned, Sheriff Harris said that his office learned that Hernandez and Manuel had been involved in her disappearance. Manuel was arrested Monday evening and is currently being held in Washington County.

Sheriff Harris said that Hernandez is an illegal immigrant and that the social security card they found was invalid. “He uses different names, and we don’t know what all those names are,” the sheriff said. Sheriff Harris added that his office received information that Hernandez may be trying to return to Mexico.

Hernandez is approximately 19 years old with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone who has information on his whereabouts should contact the Unicoi County Sheriff’s Department at 423-743-1850.