(CNN) Two men became heroes when they found a missing 9-year-old girl in a remote section of east Tennessee.

They held Carlie Marie Trent's suspected captor at gunpoint Thursday until authorities arrived, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said.

The little girl was holding a teddy bear, CNN affiliate WATE-TV in Knoxville reported.

Gary Simpson is being held at the Hawkins County, Tennessee, Jail.

"These are two heroes who went on their property just to see if they were there," Gwyn said Thursday night. "The public is who rescued Carlie and without their assistance I wouldn't be standing here tonight."

The two men were part of a group of four who had been looking for the girl for three days, according to Roger Carpenter, a minister who was part of the search party but was not at the site where the girl was found.

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