More than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement personnel were investigating the disappearance of Madelyn Allen, 19, who vanished Dec. 13 and was found late Saturday in a man’s home in Loa, about 90 miles away from the Ephraim college.

Jonathan and Tonya Allen spoke at a news conference Monday on campus, flanked by college officials and Snow Police Chief Derek Walk.

“We are so excited to have our Maddie home,” Tonya Allen said. “She has been such a light and a joy in our lives. We pray for Maddie as she moves forward that she can find hope.”

“We dropped to our knees, we were so grateful,” Jonathan Allen said, describing the moment when Walk called to say Madelyn had been found.

Photo supplied, Snow College

The woman’s uncle and family spokesman, Jacob Allen, said, “The ordeal she has been through is dangerous and traumatic. She is a fighter, and she is now a survivor. We are now worried about the long haul ahead.”

Jonathan Allen said his daughter was born prematurely and suffered disabilities as a result. She had mental and emotional difficulties as well. Police said she suffered from depression and was vulnerable.

The Allens hailed law enforcement for finding Madelyn and making her safe, Jacob Allen saying that police “should feel immense pride in their work.”

An Ephraim Police Department probable cause statement said Madelyn Allen met Brent Neil Brown, 39, on the KIK dating app and he picked her up from the college on the night of Dec. 13. The affidavit alleged that Brown took Allen to a home owned by his parents in Loa, Wayne County, and over the next five days held her captive, physically and sexually assaulted her and threatened to harm her family if she did not submit.

Brown was booked into the Sevier County Jail on suspicion of first-degree felony charges of aggravated kidnapping, rape and object rape, and second-degree felony obstruction of justice.

Police tracked the woman’s cellphone to Loa, where they knocked on Brown’s door. They said he refused to allow a search of the home, so they got a warrant via permission from his parents. The affidavit said Allen was found in a coal storage area, naked and covered in coal.

Allen told police Brown ordered her to hide in the coal so police would not find her, the arrest affidavit said. She said she knew Brown as “Cowboy” from the dating app and that he took her phone from her and turned it off when she got in his truck. She said Brown allowed her to turn on her phone the next morning to text her parents to say she loved them.

Allen told police Brown always had a large knife on his belt and that he was large and physically overpowered her. She said he tied her up when he went to work and she was afraid to leave because of threats to her family.

In the press conference Monday, Walk said additional charges are pending against Brown, who was held without bail. Formal charges had not been filed by Tuesday morning.

Snow’s president, Brad Cook, said Allen’s rescue and the outpouring of public support and help “should give us hope that in a time when we are divided and maybe we mistrust each other, what we learn here is that when we work together, miracles can happen.”

The Standard-Examiner does not normally identify victims of sex crimes but decided to name her in this story because of the widespread publicity about her disappearance, the willingness of her parents to speak about it, and Brown’s arrest.