LOUISVILLE, KY (WDRB) –- A Louisville teen is found alive after a frantic search following an amber alert.
Police found 15-year-old Joshua Young and his father, 31-year-old Joshua Gouker, safe in Alabama Thursday night. Gouker has also been connected by family members to the murder of his step-son in Louisville last month.
Some relatives of Trey Zwicker are convinced Gouker is responsible for the 14-year-old's death. He has not been named a suspect in that case, but police are certain he left Kentucky illegally.
Shelly Stewart, Trey's grandmother, says, "As soon as my daughter left him, we knew he was going to run. We started contacting social services and started saying he's going to run with that kid, he's going to run with that kid."
15-year-old Joshua Young was last seen on Algonquin Parkway Tuesday. Police issued an amber alert after Gouker failed to show up for a court hearing on a theft charge in New Albany Thursday. Police found the teen and Gouker in Birmingham, Alabama, later in the evening, about an hour after the alert was first issued. They are in custody and reported safe. We're told Gouker faces a firearms charge.
Gouker's ex-wife recently asked for an emergency protective order against him. She had claimed that he is a suspect in the death of his step-son, 14-year-old Trey Zwicker. Police have not confirmed that, but family members believe Gouker ran for a reason.
"I think he's guilty. Everyone in this neighborhood knows he done it. Text messaged people that he's done it. People come up and tell me he's admitted to them he did it," said Zwicker's cousin Ross Phelps.
