The uncle of missing 16-year-old Peyton Ledlow is pleading for her safe return.

"Peyton, if you hear me or you can get a glimpse of this, know that Uncle Randle loves you, and Uncle Randle ain't gonna stop until he finds you, no matter what cost," Randall Ledlow said.

An investigator says she was last seen leaving a friend's house on Monday. She said she'd be right back, but never returned.

WAAY 31 talked with the family as they beg for her safe return.

Family members say Peyton worked on weekends and after school at the Walmart in Moulton. 

They say they first learned Peyton was missing when they got a call from Lawrence County High School saying she was absent.

All friends and family want is Peyton to come home.

"That's my baby...I want her home safe," Randall Ledlow said.

Since Monday, when the Moulton teenager was reported missing, her safe return is all he thinks about. He wants answers about his niece's disappearance.

"At this point, we know nothing. Somebody out there knows something. She needs to be home where I can protect her. I've always protected her," Randall Ledlow said.

On Wednesday, the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said there is a strong reason to believe Peyton is with an inmate who escaped from the Morgan County Jail just 24 hours before her disappearance was reported.

The man, Kaleb Gillespie, was behind bars for drug trafficking charges after a standoff with Decatur police. The sheriff's office says Gillespie's is the first successful escape from inside the jail.

Investigators say the two know each other, but they are not releasing exactly how at this time. We're also trying to find out if investigators believe Gillespie abducted the teenage girl or if she went with him willingly.

Peyton's friends are praying she is safe.

"We need her home. We need to know she's safe. I miss her. I can't go through school without her. I can't go through life without her, because she's always been there for me," a friend, Presley Pace, said.

Randall Ledlow says he won't rest until his niece is brought back where she belongs, home.

"I just need to make sure she's safe and protect her from wherever she's at. She's 16 years old," he said.

Morgan County authorities ask you to call 911 if you know information or see Peyton or Gillespie.