3 face felony charges after missing Shepherdsville teen found safe at boyfriend's home

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 17-year-old girl missing from Shepherdsville for more than nine months was found safe in her boyfriend's basement. Now, he and his parents are facing charges.

Capt. Mike Murdoch, with the Bullitt County Sheriff's Office said the family let Lynnlee Taylor live at their house while her family continued to search for her and wondered if she was dead. Detectives believe she was at the home on Preston Highway since she went missing Jan. 17, 2018.

Deputies received a tip Wednesday night and arrived to the Hutchins' home early in the morning Thursday. Murdoch said the owner of the home let the deputies in and said he did not believe anyone was there. As they searched the home, deputies found Taylor hiding in the basement with 18-year-old Hutchins, her boyfriend.

"She made statements to us that she was inside the home basically the entire time," Murdoch said. "The only time she'd exit the home would be four or five o'clock in the morning sometimes. Just to step outside to get some fresh air."

Brian S. Hutchins Jr. along with his parents, Brian Keith Hutchins Sr. and Tracey Hutchings, were arrested and taken to the Bullitt County Detention Center. They were all charged with felony custodial interference.

A judge Thursday told all three to have no contact with Taylor and issued another protective order. Taylor's mother, Tessa Taylor-Monday, said there was a protective order against just Hutchins Jr. at the time she ran away.

Taylor-Monday said she is just happy her daughter is alive. When Taylor went missing, she was 16 years old. Now she is 17 after celebrating a birthday hiding in the Hutchins' home.

"I'm elated," she said. "I'm happy. I'm glad that she was found with people that can be held accountable for what they did. That's wrong, completely wrong what they've done. Anyone and everyone that has known where she is and didn't come forward, shame on them."

Murdoch said they had been watching the home for months but were never able to catch sight of the teen.

"We've been out there numerous times," he said. "We've done surveillance on the home, trying to find if she was inside. Knocked on the door numerous times. Spoke with the homeowner there a couple different times, but we were unable to get inside the home."

Murdoch said detectives requested a search warrant weeks ago, but the county attorney's office denied it, stating there was not enough evidence for probable cause.

However, a new tip Wednesday night prompted detectives to go back to the house and try again. Murdoch said they were expecting the family members to not let them inside like before. However, Murdoch said the homeowner let them in, and that changed everything.

He said he is relieved and thankful Taylor was found safe.

Taylor is also facing a habitual runaway charge. Thursday, a judge ordered Taylor to be sent to the juvenile detention center in Adair County for 21 days, and then she'll sent to a group home, where she will stay until she turns 18.

"She just got wrapped up in something that was too wordly," Taylor-Monday said. "And she needs help to go back and regain her roots."

Taylor has run away before, but her mother said she does not believe Taylor could've been happy in that basement. She said seeing her daughter in court Thursday, Taylor was angry, aggressive and did not look well.

"If she's gone, and she's happy, and she's a runaway, and she's fine, you're not going to find her holed up in a basement gaining 80 pounds," she said. "She's not happy. She's not really OK. Mentally, there is something going on dragging her down. She needs help. That's my baby, and I can admit she needs help."

Murdoch said, based on talking with deputies, "it appeared she wanted to be there." However, being a juvenile, she is still under the authority of her parents and needed to be at home.

Taylor's mother questions whether the sheriff's office did enough and wonders if her daughter could've been found sooner.

"I feel like they dropped the ball a lot of times," Taylor-Monday said about the department. "Especially if you have some kind of evidence, I feel like it definitely should've been addressed differently all along the way."

Taylor-Monday said when the reward was offered through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more tips started to pour in. She said she also believed there were sightings of her daughter along the train tracks. Taylor-Monday said she finds it odd timing that NCMEC was about to bring in cadaver dogs to search for a potential body, when the sheriff's office finally found her alive and well.

"I understand laws and restrictions," she said. "But she's also a minor. So I feel like definitely I'll be advocating for different procedures for missing people."

Murdoch emphasized deputies spent countless hours, during their shifts and free-time, searching for Taylor and following each tip that came to them.

"It's very frustrating for us that it took this long," Murdoch said. "But also, the problem is that with the law, you've got to follow the laws."

Taylor-Monday said, bottom line, she is thrilled her daughter is safe but knows she has a lot of healing ahead of her. And she said the family intends to press further charges against the Hutchins on behalf of Taylor.

"I have faith in my daughter," she said. "She will come out of this and be a strong person."