Deputies recover two stolen vehicles over two days

Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies recovered this Pontiac G5 Monday after it was reported stolen from Knoxville.

Over the course of two days, Whitley County Sheriff’s deputies recently recovered two stolen vehicles in a pair of unrelated cases and arrested three people.

On Oct. 16, Deputy James Tabor responded to the northbound I-75 rest area to investigate a complaint that a man was slumped over a vehicle’s steering wheel.

Tabor located the described vehicle and made contact with Josh A. Abee, 36, of North Carolina, and a passenger, Erin Absher, 31, of Indiana.

According to a national database, the vehicle that Abee was behind the wheel of had been reported stolen from Morgantown, North Carolina.

Tabor arrested Abee and charged him with receiving stolen property valued at over $10,000, public intoxication, and possession of a forged prescription for a legend drug, according to a sheriff’s department release.

Tabor arrested Absher and charged her with receiving stolen property valued at over $10,000.

Both were lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center where they are being held in lieu of $15,000 cash bonds.

Both have pleaded not guilty to their charges and have an Oct. 31 preliminary hearing scheduled in their cases.

About 10 a.m. on Oct. 17, Deputy Cody Harrell and Sgt. Todd Shelley received information that a Pontiac coupe had been reported stolen from Knoxville and that it might be located in the Whippoorwill Road area, according to the release.

While investigating the tip, Shelley located a vehicle matching the caller’s description at a residence on Osborne Lane, and national records indicated that the vehicle had been reported stolen from Knoxville, according to the release.

Shelley arrested Arnold Lee Fee Jr., 29, of Bristol, Tennessee and charged him with receiving stolen property valued at under $10,000.

He was also lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center where he is being held in lieu of a $7,500 cash bond, according to the detention center’s website.