Five guys from Mexico and Honduras were arrested and charged with kidnapping after a teenage girl reported missing in Cass County was discovered with them in Missouri. According to court records, Marlon Aguilar of Honduras and four other men were placed in the Macon County Jail when the Missouri Highway Patrol discovered the girl during a traffic check.
What Happened?
Most people driving into Logansport either live there or know someone who does. However, on Monday, police said five undocumented immigrants drove into the city and picked up a 14-year-old girl they had never met.
“It’s an eye-opener, from what I deal with my kids to what I see out here,” Logansport Police Det. Jason Rozzi said. Rozzi stated that the sergeant in charge of the case called him in the middle of the night and instructed him to ping the girl’s phone or use her phone to locate her. “I mean, I doubt they would have discovered her without it. So, yes, that was an important component of the overall scenario,” said Rozzi.
That ping assisted police in Indiana in locating the girl in Missouri just hours after she had gone. Cpl. Justin Dunn of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that once Logansport Police informed them of the girl’s whereabouts, a trooper could stop the car on U.S. 36.
“Undoubtedly, they divided people during that traffic stop to get everyone’s viewpoint on the tale and who they are and where they’re going or going to, and that was undoubtedly done in that inquiry,” Dunn said to CNN. “Through that, the person being in issue as being claimed missing, their identity became known and affirmed to the trooper by the conversation with that individual.” Dunn and Rozzi said the girl had been speaking with one of the guys over social media. Regardless of where they live, they ask parents to watch their children’s phones. At last check, authorities say the girl’s father has gone to pick her up from Missouri and bring her home.