OMAHA, Neb. (WFRV) Sophia Franklin, a pregnant teenager from central Wisconsin who was reported missing two months ago, was found safe in Nebraska late Wednesday night, and officers say the 40-year-old man she was reportedly with was taken into custody.

According to the Beaver Dam Police Department, officers were contacted by the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska around 11:40 p.m. on April 2.

Authorities in Nebraska told Wisconsin officers they got a tip about someone seeing Franklin near Omaha, Nebraska.

After law enforcement contacted the girl and the man she was with, who matched the descriptions provided in the AMBER Alert, Franklin was safely moved to a secure facility. The man, Gary Day, was taken into custody.

Day is reportedly the father of Franklin’s child.

Wisconsin teen Sophia Franklin goes missing

Day and Franklin allegedly met online in April 2024. In July, Day drove to Beaver Dam and took Franklin back to his home in Arkansas. Her parents, Lead and Stephen Franklin, had been in constant contact with her and thought she was living with friends in Beaver Dam.

On Dec. 10, officers went to Day’s home in Arkansas and found Franklin. He had been on probation and parole and was being investigated for crimes against children, according to reports.

Franklin returned home, but Day returned to Beaver Dam on Feb. 3 and drove her out of state. Sophia was 16 years old at the time she went missing, and Day was 40. Over the course of the two months, three states issued an AMBER Alert: Arkansas, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin teen Sophia Franklin found in Nebraska

A husband and a wife who were traveling together spoke with Sophia and realized who she was. Once they did, the two truck drivers contacted the police, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Sophia’s parents, Leah and Stephen, said the couple are “heroes who were alert, aware and acted when something didn’t seem right.”

When officials showed up, they contacted Sophia’s parents and sent them a photo to confirm her identity. Leah told the Journal she was “in a panic.”

“I was shaking. Then I was in a panic. It was her,” Leah told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “All these questions came flooding into our brains.”

Sophia Franklin’s family picks her up in Nebraska

Stephen Franklin drove with Franklin’s uncle to Nebraska to bring her home once she was found.

“It feels great to know she’s safe and had a checkup last night, and she’s physically doing well. We just hope to get her more help and help to move on past this,” Stephen said after reuniting with Sophia at the hospital in Nebraska.

‘We have an epidemic on our hands’: Sophia Franklin’s mom

Now, the family’s top priority is making sure Sophia and her unborn child are healthy. They also want to help Sophia after she was controlled by a “predator,” according to her parents. They believe Day took their daughter to states where the legal age of consent is 16, Leah told the Journal.

When Sophia returned home in December after being taken by Day in August, her parents told the Journal that officials had given them information about protecting children from online predators. However, they had already done everything that was suggested.

“We are the first parenting generation to deal with this,” Leah said. “We are the guinea pigs, and something needs to change.”

“We have an epidemic on our hands,” Leah said. “We are keeping these laws the same, even though times have changed. After a situation like this, we can’t just sit here and do nothing about it.”

Gary Day appears in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska

Court records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel showed that Day appeared in court last week. Prosecutors in Nebraska charged him with the transportation of minors, which is a felony. If convicted, he could face 10 years to life in prison.

“He is a broken man that needs help, too,” Sophia’s mother said. “But there is a lot of indignation I feel toward him. How could he think he could take such a beautiful young girl and do that to her?”

Day allegedly waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Nebraska. He also requested that the case be conducted in Arkansas, where the charges against him started.