A McComb man accused of stealing a car with two children in it and later burning the car near Osyka on Thursday night faces kidnapping, theft and arson charges.
The boys, ages 2 and 4, were found unharmed by a state trooper at the Magnolia Truck Stop about two hours after the car was taken.
Anthony Dewayne Pittman, 25, 1013 Oakdale Road, is being held without bond in the Pike County jail, charged with arson and receiving stolen property.
McComb police have placed a hold on Pittman in connection with the car theft and kidnapping and expect to charge him with grand larceny and two counts of kidnapping later today, detective Shannon Sullivan said.
Another man, Earl Tee Varnado, 26, 1066 Smith Alford Road, Osyka, is charged with arson and receiving stolen property in the case. He is being held without bond in the county jail.
Authorities do not believe he was involved in the theft of the car.
Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Rushing said the county charges involve the stolen vehicle. He said Pittman had been out on bond on an unrelated drug charge.
The car theft and kidnapping occurred about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Sullivan said Mark Sandifer, the boys’ father, told police he went inside the Exxon on Presley Boulevard when a man got in his 1997 Ford Expedition and drove off, going east on Presley with the children in the SUV’s back seat.
Sandifer said he got a ride with someone and tried to follow the SUV but lost it after it went over the bridge. His call to police began a search through McComb for the car and the children.
Acting Police Chief Greg Martin joined the search and had dispatchers alert the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Highway Patrol and law enforcement agencies in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Martin also called out other McComb officers to help.
About 9:15 p.m., Sullivan said, Highway Patrol trooper Steve Crawford notified police that he had found the children at the truck stop. Martin took the children to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, where they were examined as a precaution.
Later, trooper Gerry Crawford, who was working with a state Wildlife Fisheries and Parks officer and a Pike County sheriff’s deputy, found the burned SUV on Smith Alford Road, and later arrested Pittman and Varnado.
