Prayers of the family of two missing Macon County teenagers were answered when they returned home safely on Saturday January 12. Kyle Claywell, 17, and Kelsey Wilson, 15, left Macon County on Tuesday January 8. Jeff and Beverly Wilson, parents of Kelsey, filed a report with Red Boiling Springs Police Department Chief Terry Tuck after she was not at school at the end of the day Tuesday when her Mother came to pick her up. A missing persons report was filed on Kyle Claywell with the Macon County Sheriff's department. Rhonda Cowan, Kyle's guardian and Aunt, reported no one had seen him since he left for school on January 8.

Detectives and officials from Red Boiling Police and from Macon County Sheriff's Department worked to get information to assist in search and location of the teens. Notices and photographs were placed in both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation database for missing children and in NCIC, a system used by various agencies of law enforcement to quickly exchange information for many purposes including missing persons.

As days passed, with no leads nor sightings, family and friends of both Kyle and Kelsey began distributed fliers with the teens photographs throughout many... sur.rounding counties. News report were run in the Tennessean and on Macon County Times websites with photographs to assist in search. NCTC cable TV ran details and WEEN radio kept the community up to date until the missing teens returned home.

While distributing fliers in Lebanon, Terri Lynn Taylor of Hartsville was pleased to hear from a Wilson County deputy a clear description of who they were looking for and the vehicle, a 2000 S-10 Chevy Pick up truck. This high alert attention gave her and other friends confidence that the two would be found. She, like many others, gave her time just out of kindness, to help the two families in any way through a very difficult time.

The teens traveled through six states as far as Michigan, according to the parents.

“Tell everybody that I am sorry for the heartache and problems I caused,'' said Kyle Claywell. Kelsey Wilson said, “Thank everybody for praying for my family to help them get through the time we were gone.”

Beverly Wilson said “When you have a small town you realize how good you have it, when something like this happens.”

“I want to thank anybody and everybody that did anything to help locate Kyle and Kelsey, whether it was prayers, calls, kind acts, and for thinking of us. We were especially overwhelmed by concerns and acts of many people.” said Rhonda Cowan.

Both the Wilsons and the Cowans contribute much praise to RBS Police Chief Terry Tuck and the police department, Detective Bill Cothron and Macon County Sheriff's department and the TBI along with the various media outlets that played their role in community awareness. A Special thanks from both families goes to Joe Corso who brought the two back from Kyle's Father home in Hendersonville, where they came to, once back in Tennessee on Saturday.