Search for west Georgia sex trafficking suspect
CARROLLTON, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Carroll County investigators are searching for a man involved in a sex trafficking operation which has already netted several arrests.
On the outskirts of Bowdon is Lovvorn Mill Road where one is apt to see farm equipment passing by.
Neighbor Terry Gatewood told FOX 5 News he often sees long lines of cars coming and going from a home on the 800 block of the road.
“And turn around in our driveway cause that’s our driveway or they’d go down there and turn around,” said Gatewood.
Carroll County investigators said it’s the home of 50-year-old Jeffrey Earl Cook, now being sought.
Investigator Ashley Hulsey said the home is where four teenage girls who ran away from the nearby foster care facility, Kidspeace, ended up.
Earlier, investigators from Carrollton Police had told FOX 5 News the teens had gotten a ride from a gas station near Kidspeace.
Investigator Hulsey said the home is where the sex trafficking operation got underway.
“Mr. Cook and Ms. Goodwin offered the girls money for them to have sex with men and that’s kind of where everything began,” said Investigator Hulsey.
FOX 5 News reported on the arrest of 25-year-old Shanice Goodwin last month when Carrollton County police arrested her.
Investigators said Goodwin brought the four girls, two were 14, one was 15, and another was 16, from the home on Lovvorn Mill Road to a room at a Carrollton motel to prep them for “Johns,” customers.
“Buying them some new clothes new undergarments taking photos of them and using the provocative photos and using those to solicit business,” Captain J.J. Cole said back on April 3.
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Investigators are thankful the girls were busted before the group could be victimized further.
The four teenage girls were discovered when Carrollton Police responded to a Dollar General store next to the motel on a shoplifting call involving two of them.
Goodwin and three other people have been arrested.
Authorities continue to search for Cook as his neighbors on Lovvorn Mill Road hope for a quick capture.
“I have a 14-year-old daughter and I hope he gets caught real quick and justice gets served to him very quickly,” said Mindy Caviness.
Investigators told FOX 5 News the four teenage girls are in a safe place.