13-Year-Old Girl, Her 2-Week-Old Baby and Her Stepdad Are Missing

EDWARDSVILLE, IL — Katherine Derleth, 13, gave birth on Sept. 1 to a baby boy. She named him Christopher. Today, no one knows where she and the newborn are.

The child, her baby, and her stepfather — 39-year-old Christopher Derleth, of Edwardsville — left Edwardsville. A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for Derleth — who was prohibited from seeing the girl by court order. He's now charged with child abduction and aggravated kidnapping.

“There are two young people someplace in the United States unknown to their caregivers without medical treatment,” Madison County Sheriff John Lakin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “A 19-day-old child needs medical care that a 13-year-old is not prepared to deliver.”

Police believe Derleth took them and suspect he's hiding out in the backwoods of West Virginia, according to the Madison County Sheriff's Office. West Virginia State Police report Derleth and the children may have been seen near Charleston on I-77 in a green 1997 Mercury Villager minivan on Sunday.

An AMBER Alert has been issued for the Derleth children. Authorities also believe Derleth could be headed for Texas, according to the AMBER Alert

"I think it's fair to say that this is a family in crisis and really a broken situation," State's Attorney Tom Gibbons told NBC News.

The girl and her baby were last seen at the home of a foster family at 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the sheriff's department.

An order of protection against Derleth was issued Aug. 16. Derleth is the focus of two criminal investigations in Bond County, Illinois, a small, rural county in southern Illinois, east of St. Louis.

Anyone with information may call the Madison County Sheriff’s Office: 618-692-4433. Anyone who sees the children or Derleth is encouraged to call 911.

photos: Madison County Sheriff; AMBER Alert