Authorities said the two men who were arrested after allegedly taking a 14-year-old girl earlier this week were related to her and did not threaten to harm her.
Martin Scarberry, 41, of 404 S. Fifth St., McComb, and Christopher Brown, 49, of 3071 Charlie Rhodus Road, Osyka, were arrested without incident in a wooded area near the downtown Brookhaven exit on Interstate 55 Tuesday afternoon.
The girl was with them when officers arrived.
She was safely taken into custody by federal agents who are arranging a forensic interview with the Southwest Mississippi Children’s Advocacy Center, said Pike County Chief Deputy Brad Bellipanni.
The girl did not require medical attention or a trip to the hospital, he said.
Before she disappeared, Pike County sheriff’s deputies already had an arrest warrant for Scarberry for failure to register as a sex offender. That remained his only charge Thursday.
Brown faces an accessory charge related to Scarberry’s prior sex offense. Neither has been charged in the girl’s disappearance.
The investigation is ongoing, and possible further charges are pending for both men, Bellipanni said.
Deputies do not yet know why the men took the girl or where they were planning to go.
Scarberry and Brown had their initial court appearances Thursday.
Neither were given bond, Jail Administrator Richard Bynum said.
Both are in the Pike County Jail, with preliminary hearings in justice court on April 29, he said.
Pike County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation. Other agencies who helped with the arrest included the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Mississippi Department of Corrections.
