A Kings Bay sailor, his wife and three children were detained by authorities in Indiana following a nationwide Amber Alert on Thursday afternoon.
The alert was issued after authorities reported that Marshall Gentry was last seen in a black Toyota Tundra driving away from a St. Marys elementary school early Wednesday afternoon with his six-year-old daughter, her two younger siblings and estranged wife.
The Amber Alert said Gentry was believed to be heavily armed and known to be suicidal.
Gentry, his wife and three children were detained by authorities in Indiana late Thursday afternoon without incident, said Capt. Larry Bruce, a spokesman for the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. It’s uncertain if Gentry’s wife, who had recently filed for divorce, voluntarily accompanied him, Bruce said.
Most recently, Gentry was living in a small pop-up Coleman trailer on base and had recently been served divorce papers, Bruce said.
Authorities became involved Thursday morning after Gentry’s supervisor went to check on him when he failed to show up to work and discovered the trailer was gone. When he went to Gentry’s estranged wife’s address in St. Marys, the residence was vacant. Gentry’s military uniforms were on the front porch, Bruce said.
The supervisor contacted Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputies and an Amber Alert was issued to ensure the wife, whose name was not released, and the three children were not being held against their will, Bruce said.
The alert was issued Thursday, a day after Gentry’s wife removed 6-year-old Meadow Gentry from school while her husband waited in a vehicle with her two younger siblings.
Authorities said they were uncertain where the vehicle was headed after leaving the school. With a 24-hour head start before the Amber Alert, they said it was impossible to determine how far the vehicle may have traveled.
As it turned out, Gentry drove 1,000 miles before stopped by authorities.
It took less than four hours to find Gentry and his family after the Amber Alert.
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