Father of Alabama woman who vanished in 2016 arrested on child sex charges
Published 3:32 pm Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Alabama law enforcement investigators announced a strange, new twist this week in an ongoing missing persons case.
Pike County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Tuesday they had arrested the father of the woman who had been reported missing, but not directly on charges related to the woman’s disappearance.
Bobby Richard Faulkner, 54, was arrested late last week and charged with two counts of sexual abuse (first degree), deputies said.
The victim was a juvenile, investigators said, 14 years old during the first alleged offense and 15 years old during the second alleged offense.
Faulkner’s daughter vanished in 2016 and remains unsolved, investigators said.
“This case remains under investigation along with other cases at this time,” Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas said in a news release. “Ricky Faulkner is the father of Lela Faulkner, who was reported missing on July 4, 2016. Lela Faulkner, a missing persons case, remains a high priority for the Pike County Sheriff’s Office and we are constantly striving to bring this case to a close.”