Alert Issued for Five ‘Endangered’ Siblings Missing in Tennessee

A statewide Endangered Child Alert was issued in Tennessee on Wednesday for five missing siblings who are believed to be with their noncustodial parents, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The five boys are from Athens, Tennessee. They are Kaidren Heath, 11; Karson Pendergrass, 5; Andrew Pendergrass, 4; Lucas Pendergrass, 4; and Malachi Pendergrass, 2.

The children were last seen in a white GMC Acadia with the Tennessee tag 521 BMMM, the agency said, and they are believed to have been missing since October 21.

Newsweek contacted the Athens Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for comment via email.

Kaidren is described as being 5 feet tall, weighing 70 pounds, and having brown hair and hazel eyes.

Karson is four-foot-five, weighs 50 pounds, and has blond hair and blue eyes.

Andrew and Lucas are 4 feet tall, weigh 40 pounds, and have brown hair and brown eyes.

Malachi is 3 feet tall, weighs 30 pounds, and has blond hair and blue eyes.

The Endangered Child Alert was issued just before 4 a.m., ABC 33/40 reported.

According to a media release from the Athens Police Department obtained by Newsweek, the police department responded to a report about five missing children from the Athens Department of Children’s Services (DCS) on October 22.

The media alert said, the “DCS Case worker on scene stated the mother and father of the five children were advised that the five children would be going into State custody per a court order. [The] father then instructed the children and his wife to get up and run out of the office. DCS Case workers were able to get a vehicle description for Law Enforcement.”

The children were to be taken into state custody because of an “active court order and the father failing to comply with the court order,” the media alert continued, adding: “At the direction of the 10th District Attorney’s Office, Felony Warrants were issued for the father. The father is 30-year-old Kurtis Pendergrass of Athens.”

The suspect then reportedly left the DCS office in the white GMC Acadia. “The Mother, Father, and children are believed to be in the Georgia area per sources,” the media alert said.

The Athens Police Department said it is working alongside law enforcement in Georgia; with federal, state and local partners; and with Flock Safety.

Anyone with information about the children’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Athens Police Department at 423-745-3222 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Tennessee has various types of alerts that it issues when individuals, both children and adults, go missing—including the Amber Alert, the Silver Alert, the Endangered Child Alert, the Endangered Young Adult Alert (Holly Bobo Act) and the Missing Children List.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s website said Endangered Child Alerts are issued “for missing children cases in which there is a concern for the child’s safety.”

The site also said that “in issuing an Endangered Child Alert, the TBI notifies local media—in specific regions of the state—about the missing child, along with any additional available information. The TBI also uses social media to further share the relevant information.”

On the website, 14 children—including the five boys—are listed with active missing child alerts, with the earliest dating back to 2011.

According to Child Find of America, 78 percent of abductors were noncustodial parents, and 35 percent of abducted children were between 6 and 11 years old.

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