OWENS CROSS ROADS, Ala. — All nine teenage girls who escaped from a residential treatment facility in Owens Cross Roads over the weekend have been recovered and returned to the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, according to Owens Cross Roads police and local reports.
Police said the girls left Pathway of Madison County, a residential behavioral health and treatment facility for teenage girls, in three separate escapes Saturday and Sunday. The incidents prompted renewed scrutiny of the facility, which has faced repeated escapes and a public nuisance lawsuit from the city.
The first escape came to light around 9 a.m. Saturday after three 911 callers reported seeing four girls walking in the rain near Hamer Road and U.S. 431. Police said Pathway had not reported the girls missing; officers determined they had left the facility and returned them there.
Pathway reported a second escape shortly before noon Saturday, when two more girls left. Police said the girls went to a local home, then an abandoned home, where they were met by a former Pathway employee who drove them out of Madison County and later took them to a police department in Jefferson County.
One of those girls was returned to Pathway overnight. Police said the other became uncooperative during the return, bit a deputy and damaged the interior of a patrol car; authorities did not say where she was taken.
The third escape was reported to police at 3:23 p.m. Sunday. Officers said three girls had been gone for 30 to 40 minutes before the facility called.
WAFF reported Monday that all nine girls were back in DHR custody, though it was not immediately clear whether each had been returned to Pathway. WHNT also reported that the three girls who escaped Sunday were back in DHR custody.
Owens Cross Roads police said investigations into all three incidents remain ongoing and criminal charges are anticipated.
Mayor Tony Craig said in a statement that city leaders are “deeply concerned” about the incidents, which he said affect the well-being of the girls and the broader community. He said the city would continue assessing the situation and “explore all legal avenues to address the issue effectively.”
The city sued Pathway in December 2025, alleging the facility is a public nuisance because of emergency calls tied to violent activity on or near the property. A trial is scheduled for May 5, 2027.
The weekend escapes were not isolated. WAFF reported that girls escaped the facility in August, October and November 2025, and that 23 girls have escaped Pathway since September 2024.
The city briefly revoked Pathway’s business license in January 2025. It was reinstated in August 2025 after the facility agreed to install fencing and make improvements to living conditions.
Attorney Tommy James, who said he is investigating a case involving a former Pathway resident, called for a state investigation into the facility. “The fact that there are nine escapes in 48 hours is stunning and deeply troubling,” James told WHNT.
Pathway describes its mission on its website as providing treatment for emotional and behavioral issues, including past trauma, substance abuse and other clinical concerns.