The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Local News

November 4, 2009

<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/policeandfire.gif" border=0 > Rural Washburn girl missing

Authorities in Missouri believe a 39-year-old rural Washburn woman may have left the state with her 8-year-old daughter whose father has sole custody of her.

The McDonald County Sheriff’s Department issued an endangered person advisory Tuesday night on Rebecca Marie Allen. The girl’s mother, Teresa Lynn Allen, also known as Teresa L. Gantt, is suspected of having left her home at 711 Woodard Lane in McDonald County and taken the girl with her, Sheriff Robert Evenson said.

“We don’t think her mother will harm her,” Evenson told the Globe.

But sheriff’s deputies have not been able to locate the girl on behalf of her father, Joe Allen, of Cassville, Evenson said. Joe Allen was granted sole custody of the child at a court hearing last week in Barry County, the sheriff said.

Leads received by the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department suggest that the mother may have left the state with the girl, he said. The girl is described as weighing 48 pounds and having blonde hair and brown eyes. Her mother is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall and 160 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information concerning their whereabouts is being asked to call the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department at (417) 223-7429.

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