Deputies were dispatched around 2 p.m. Monday to the area of Lou Goddard Road and Tarwater Road after the father of a 2-year-old girl reported the child had been abducted by Howey, the child’s grandfather, following a crash.
 

Blount County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Jarrod Millsaps said the area of the crash is located near the Blount County and Loudon County line, so they asked the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Highway Patrol to be on the lookout for Howey and his vehicle.

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Not long after receiving the abduction report, Howey called authorities and told them he was at his residence with the child, Millsaps said.

According to a Sheriff’s Office report, the 2-year-old girl resides at Howey’s Greenback residence, along with her mother, a 21-year-old Greenback woman. The 21-year-old is Howey’s daughter, making Howey the child’s grandfather, police said.

The report states the child’s father had stopped by the residence and was given permission by the woman to take the girl with him.

The man told deputies he secured his daughter in a car seat and left the residence.

As he was driving east on Lou Goddard Road, Howey came from the opposite direction and crossed the center line before striking his vehicle head-on, the report said.

Howey then reportedly grabbed the child without the father’s permission and fled the area in his vehicle. Howey admitted to deputies he did not secure the child in a car seat when he left, the report said.

Deputies said two witnesses confirmed Howey took the child and fled the crash scene.

The girl’s mother told deputies she did not give her father permission to take the girl back from the child’s father.