The debit card of an Illinois man who police say abducted his 13-year-old stepdaughter and her newborn son was used at a Kanawha County convenience store this afternoon.
On Friday afternoon, a Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatcher said that U.S. Marshals had said they detected Christopher Derleth making a purchase at a GoMart in Chelyan. Kanawha County Metro 911 issued an alert, asking all police agencies in the county to be on the lookout.
The Madison County Sheriff's Office in Illinois said Derleth, 39, of Granite City, abducted 13-year-old Katherine Derleth, and her weeks-old son, Christopher, from a home in Edwardsville, Illinois, on Sunday morning. Police said they believed he might be heading to West Virginia.
Derleth's vehicle, a green 1997 Mercury Villager van with Illinois license plate number E833210, was spotted on Interstate 77 in Charleston earlier this week.
Police have said they believe they may be camping.
According to the Amber Alert, Katherine may need medical attention.
Madison County Sheriff John Lakin on Thursday said Katherine, of Carpenter, Illinois, has a congenital heart defect and a pacemaker. She was still under a doctor's care after having a cesarean section delivery. Special equipment to monitor the pacemaker was left behind when she went missing last weekend from a foster home in Madison County.
"She doesn't have that. If it fails, this would be a life threatening event," said Madison County Sheriff's Department Capt. Mike Dixon. "We want the public to know how serious the situation is. This child's life is in danger in multiple ways, as well as the infant's."
Authorities on Monday filed kidnapping charges against the stepfather and were searching for the three. He previously had been ordered not to contact her.
Lakin described Derleth as an outdoorsman and expressed concern that he may be keeping the children in a primitive camping setting, and away from accessible medical care.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports that police still don't have any leads in the case, but are sure Derleth won't try to return to Illinois.