Stark Reality of the Case of Savannah Leigh
The night of January 13th was just another normal night in the lives of the Pruitt’s, when Savannah Lee Pruitt, the fourteen-year-old daughter of Christina and Randall Pruitt said goodnight to her parents at 11 pm and went off to bed. It seemed like everything was okay, but that would be the last time her parents would see their daughter for another three weeks, almost.
The story of disappearance:
Savannah, according to her mother Christina, went to bed and she was “her normal bubbly self” according to the parents. Nobody knows what happened after that, but Savannah’s cell phone pinged five hours later but nearly 140 miles away in Kentucky. The missing Tennessee teen did not run away from her house, according to the initial reports of the police.
What puzzled the police the most was the fact that the parents were adamant that nothing was amiss the night before and the parents claimed that they knew nobody in Kentucky and neither did their daughter. The police urged for help from the public in identifying or coming forward with any information people had regarding the missing teen girl from Madisonville, Tennessee. The parents of Savannah Leigh Pruitt also posted an online plea for people to help them.
“We’re very heartbroken, I miss her. I don’t understand…”, Christina Pruitt told WATE, while the girl’s adoptive father also joined in to say, “It’s like having your soul ripped out of your body, you can’t think, you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t rest – life has just ceased for us since she left.”
Savannah Leigh Pruitt Found:
The internet was quick to pitch in with their opinions regarding the disappearance with some people saying this was the biggest missing saga since the infamous disappearance of the three-year-old Madeline McCann from a holiday resort in Portugal. While that case remains unsolved to this day, Savannah Leigh Pruitt had better luck as she was found safe in Wisconsin. The police officials did not disclose where she was found, and if the people were involved in her disappearance, but the belief is that they are not responsible. The twist in the tale arrives with the fact that Savannah Leigh Pruitt’s adoptive father Randall Pruitt was arrested earlier on the same day Savannah was found and was charged and held without bond on charges of rape. The police claim that the investigation will continue as they look to find out what actually happened.
The sheriff said that he believes the arrest of the adoptive father, Randall Pruitt, and the disappearance of Savannah are part of the same investigation, but they cannot reveal more information as it is an on-going investigation. He believes that more arrests will be made in the coming day with a number of suspects already being investigated. The latest he said on the case was that he believes that Savannah fled the house on her own will give a bad home situation. The details on how she reached Wisconsin and where she was staying have not been revealed as of yet.
A few facts from the Savannah Leigh Pruitt Missing Case:
- Savannah Leigh was homeschooled by her mother. There is a belief that she was not treated properly at home. Investigations are on-going, and people pointed out how the mother of Savannah Leigh Pruitt mentioned her in the past tense and as there was a growing belief that she was in on the act, as well.
- She is the eldest of four siblings.
- Her adoptive father was arrested on charges of rape, although he is not directly linked to the disappearance the police believe it is all part of a bigger story.
Savannah Leigh Pruitt Update:
However, after a lot of investigation, the FBI in September 2019 found another suspect who claimed he was helping Savannah. That provided the missing link to the story. Bryan D. Rogers, 31, was charged with the production of child pornography, as well as, making a false statement. Wisconsin based Bryan Rogers was accused of encouraging the young teenager to film herself getting raped by her father. He says it was only to prove to the authorities of the heinous crime that the adoptive father was involved in. Once the video was delivered online to Rogers, he drove all the way to Madisonville from Wisconsin to pick her up. She was missing for more than two weeks before she was found.
The jury, along with the authorities, was not convinced by this explanation and according to the indictment, Rogers “knowingly and intentionally persuaded, induced and coerced a minor, KV #1, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of said act.
Along with Bryan D. Rogers, the adoptive father, Randall Pruitt was also put behind bars on the charges of rape. Savannah Leigh Pruitt, while on the run, wrote a letter to the FBI detailing the sexual abuse she went through at her home at the hands of her adoptive father. She mailed the letter along with the video, with the help of Bryan Rogers.
According to the message exchanges between Bryan Rogers and the minor, Savannah was being molested for 12+ years. The court records also found out that accused rapist, Randall Pruitt carried and used guns, and might not have been in the best mental shape as he had killed the pet dog of Savannah Leigh Pruitt and skinned it.
The belief is that the mother, Christina Pruitt, knew about the situation but found herself either helpless or just did not do enough regarding any of it. She has also been charged for tampering with the evidence of the case. This shows that while the authorities are making a lot of progress with the case, there are a lot of things which we do not know about. It remains to be seen what will be done with Savannah, and the rest of her siblings, but the police ensure that they are in safe custody, at the moment.
