In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — Earl Melchert wasn’t supposed to be home that Tuesday afternoon. 
  
 Melchert, an employee of Elbow Lake Co-op Grain, had been working near his home near Barrett and made a last-minute decision to pick something up from his house. 
  
 It was that decision that would change the course of numerous lives — especially that of a 15-year-old Jasmine Block. Police say she had been had been abducted and held against her will by three men for nearly one month before escaping the afternoon of Sept. 5. 
  
 “I would have been there (at home) about a minute,” Melchert said. “But I happened to look out and I saw a speck. Eventually she got close to me and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a woman.’ Then pretty soon I said, ‘No, it’s a young girl.’ 
  
 “I knew it was her as soon as I saw her face.” 
  
 Melchert got Jasmine into his truck and immediately called 911. Jasmine had fled from an empty foreclosed home on a nearby lake, swimming part of the lake to escape and find Melchert. 
  
 “I was in the right place at the right time,” he said. “I did what I had to do.” 
  
 It was for this reason that Melchert was chosen as the recipient of a $7,000 reward for Jasmine’s safe return after she disappeared from her Alexandria home on Aug. 8. Jasmine’s family offered $2,000 of the reward money while $5,000 came from an anonymous donor. 
  
 However, at a gathering at the Alexandria Police Department on Friday, Oct. 6, Melchert turned down the reward and instead gave the money to Jasmine. 
  
 “The reward money means absolutely nothing to me,” said Melchert as he addressed Jasmine and her mother, Sarah. “I want to present this money to you and Jasmine. You guys deserve it.” 
  
 Alexandria Police Chief Rick Wyffels also spoke, praising the community for spreading Jasmine’s story quickly and widely. She was found about 20 miles from her home. 
  
 “You ran into one awesome individual in Earl Melchert,” Wyffels said to Jasmine. “His heart and compassion were instantly in your world. Because of the promotion of your story, your mother’s efforts, your family’s efforts, the community’s efforts, that story was out there, Jasmine. It was out there so much that when Earl saw you, he knew who you were.” 
  
 It was the first time Sarah Block had met Melchert. She thanked him and the Alexandria Police Department. 
  
 “You guys will forever hold a place in our hearts,” she said. 
  
 Of Melchert, she added that she and her family view him as a hero. 
  
 “I’ve been waiting to meet him,” she said. “He’s really a hero for us. We wanted to thank him. … He didn’t have to help her and he did. He risked a lot of things and put himself in danger.” 
  
 As Melchert drove Jasmine to the authorities, she spotted a car driven by one of the three men now charged in the case, leading to their arrests the same day she was found. 
  
 Sarah says Jasmine’s life is slowly returning to normal, though the effects of the ordeal will always be with her. 
  
 “Jasmine is in school and they’re adding more classes,” Sarah said. “She has her therapy dog and is playing with her friends again. Things are looking up.” 
  
 Wyffels says that the area’s sense of community played a large role in the positive end to this story. 
  
 “In our community, the lines don’t stop at city limits and county lines,” Wyffels said. “If we all treat each other like what happened in this room, I think we’re going to have a better place.” ||||| The details of Ms. Block’s ordeal emerged soon after: She had been at home alone when she encountered Thomas Barker, 32, outside her house. He told her he needed help with a family situation, Richard Wyffels, the Alexandria police chief, said at a news conference. Mr. Barker was a family acquaintance, Chief Wyffels said, so Ms. Block agreed to accompany him in his car. 
  
 When the two arrived at Mr. Barker’s house, he restrained Ms. Block with zip ties, and for the next 29 days, Mr. Barker and two other men, Joshua Holby, 31, and Steven Powers, 20, sexually and physically assaulted her and threatened her with weapons, the police said. 
  
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 They moved her several times, ending near Mr. Melchert’s property. On Sept. 5, the men went to get food, leaving her alone for the first time. 
  
 Shaken as she was after her escape, she was still able to help the police find her kidnappers. 
  
 Just as officers arrived at Mr. Melchert’s property, a car drove by — one that Ms. Block recognized. It belonged to Mr. Powers. She identified the car for the police, who arrested him, Chief Wyffels said. The two other men were arrested soon after. 
  
 The chief called her “amazing” and a “young lady with a lot of strength,” and Mr. Melchert said she was the “real hero.” 
  
 On Friday, the Alexandria Police Department presented Mr. Melchert with a $7,000 reward that had been offered for information leading to Ms. Block’s return; $2,000 had come from Ms. Block’s family and $5,000 from an anonymous donor. 
  
 Mr. Melchert said he knew exactly what to do with the check: He gave it to Ms. Block. 
  
 “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Mr. Melchert, who went to dinner with Ms. Block, her mother, her two sisters and her aunts after the presentation on Friday. 
  
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 “The family needs the money,” he said. “To me, yeah, that’s a lot of money, but they need it way worse than I do.” 
  
 On the Alexandria Police Department’s Facebook page, Chief Wyffels praised Mr. Melchert’s kindness and generosity. “Thank you, Earl, it is people like you that make this world a better place,” he wrote. 
  
 The attention has been overwhelming for Mr. Melchert, a self-described country boy. He and his wife have read the praise on social media, where some people have called on him to run for president. 
  
 He has no such plans, however: He retired last week. 
  
 “What a retirement present,” he said, “to hand over some money to people that really need it.” |||||
Two heroes have emerged in Minnesota: an abducted 15-year-old girl and the 65-year-old farmer who found her. Fox News and the Twin Cities Pioneer Press report Jasmine Block disappeared from her Alexandria home on Aug. 8, and she was reportedly held for nearly a month in an abandoned house, where she says she was physically and sexually assaulted. On Sept. 5, however, she broke out, swam across a lake, and started running when she got to the other side. It was then that Jasmine ran into Earl Melchert, who said he saw a "speck" rushing toward him in his truck; he tells the New York Times he thought it was a deer at first. As she got closer, he realized it wasn't a deer, but a missing girl he recognized from newscasts and posters around town. He got Jasmine into his truck, called 911, and started driving the teen to the local police station. As they drove, Jasmine saw a car driven by one of the suspects, which helped cops catch them the same day. But it was Melchert's next "incredible act of kindness," as the Alexandria Police Department notes on Facebook, that brought on even more hugs: He turned down the $7,000 reward and gave it to Jasmine instead. "He believes that young lady that came running towards him that September day is the real hero," the Alexandria PD notes, adding, "Thank you Earl, it is people like you that make this world a better place." Melchert tells the Press he was simply "in the right place at the right time." Jasmine is back in school and healing with the help of a therapy dog, while the three suspects—Thomas Barker, 32, a family acquaintance, as well as Joshua Holby, 31, and Steven Powers, 20—have been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault, and criminal sexual conduct.