Surveillance video from a Wal-Mart store showed the uncle purchasing camping equipment as well as items presumably for Carlie, such as underwear, a bikini, and nail polish, shortly before he took the girl out of school under false pretenses.
 
Usually cases such as this do not end well. However, in this instance, young Carlie was rescued and the uncle was arrested.
 
Finding Carlie was no easy task, but it was made possible by a community coming together, including, in large part, the church.
 
First and foremost, the residents of Rogersville prayed. This small, eastern Tennessee town is largely made up of church-going folk, who immediately fell to their knees en masse on behalf of one of the most vulnerable of their own.
 
In fact, the East Rogersville Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, located one block from Carlie's school, held a prayer vigil two days after Carlie was kidnapped. Some of the school's administrators also attend the church.
 
The event was led by interim Pastor Jason Royston. Even Carlie's mother, Shannon Trent, attended the vigil. Additionally, Pastor Royston and the church's worship leader went to pray with James Trent, Carlie's father, the Friday morning after she was taken.
 
Two of the heroes who found Carlie, Roger Carpenter and Stewart Franklin, are members of that church. They, along with Donnie Lawson, another Rogersville citizen, gave thanks to God for helping them find young Carlie in a secluded, wooded area of rural Tennessee, and for keeping her alive until they were able to take her to safety.
 
The church also helped by providing food for the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshall, and local law enforcement agents who were also searching for Carlie. Although many of the congregants did not know Carlie or her family, they pitched-in anyway.
 
"Our guys got involved because they were just concerned citizens," Royston said. "The longer things went unsolved, the bigger the burden."
 
Royston said the fact that the church was already a reliable, trusted fixture in the community before Carlie went missing allowed it to be of great service during a crisis. He says this can be a lesson to all churches, to get involved with the community so that when tragedy strikes, the Church can respond in a way the government cannot.
 
"We offer prayer and a great reputation in the community," he said. "Hopefully the Church is a place people come to find hope and comfort in a situation such as this."

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