Kentucky 'Bonnie and Clyde' teens on the run

Bruce Schreiner and Dylan Lovan | WHAS-TV, Louisville, Ky.

Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky 'Bonnie and Clyde' teens on the run Police are looking for a teenage couple from Kentucky who police say stole a pickup truck with a firearm inside and are writing fraudulent checks. Dalton Hayes, 18, and Cheyenne Phillips, 13, have been on the run since January 3.

LEITCHFIELD, Ky. — Two teenagers from central Kentucky who vanished nearly two weeks are suspected in a multi-state crime spree, and authorities are desperately searching for the couple.

Dalton Hayes, 18, disappeared Jan. 3 with Cheyenne Phillips, 13, both of Leitchfield, stealing a red 2006 Toyota Tacoma pickup with a firearm inside, according to Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins. Leitchfield is a city of almost 7,000 residents about 60 miles southwest of Louisville, Ky.

Hayes and Cheyenne had been dating for about three months, his mother, Tammy Martin said Friday. And the girl, who liked to hang out at Martin's home and watch movies, told her boyfriend and his family that she was 19 years old.

"She would go in and write checks and she would come out with cigarettes and stuff," Martin said. "So I didn't have any reason not to believe she wasn't 19 because normally you can't buy cigarettes when you're 13 years old."

The sheriff said he thinks Hayes is calling the shots as the couple tries to stay ahead of the law.

"He's a hard-headed kid," Chaffins said. "He does have issues with authority. Very rarely does he take responsibility for what he's done, and he has a history of making bad choices."

The red truck had been seen Monday in Manning, S.C., and Wednesday in Henry County, Ga., about 30 miles southeast of Atlanta, the sheriff's office said. On Thursday, authorities in Georgia found the vehicle they had been using abandoned, but another pickup with guns was reported stolen from a nearby location.

The pair also has been using checks that were inside the pickup when it was stolen and has managed to get away from officers twice.

"Their behavior is becoming increasing brazen and dangerous," Chaffins said. Initially, Hayes was wanted for custodial interference and Cheyenne was considered a missing juvenile.

Authorities now believe the two are traveling in a 2001 Silver Toyota Tundra with Georgia license plate CR116I, Chaffins said.

"I don't think they know where they are going, to be honest with you," he told the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. "I think they're just driving, and it's getting increasingly dangerous for them."

Chaffins said anyone who spots the couple should call 911.

"This is not a game to us," Chaffins said. "Our biggest fear is that Dalton is not going to stop for the police, he's going to run every time they approach him and they get in a pursuit. When a pursuit starts and somebody is not going to stop, the outcome is usually not a good one."

Hayes' mother also is pleading for a peaceful ending, worried about what might happen if the chase continues for much longer.

"I pretty much cry myself to sleep every night worrying," she said.

Contributing: The Associated Press