The Oklahoma City Police Department in the United States rescued a 15-year-old girl who had been kidnapped at the Dallas Mavericks stadium, in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers for the NBA regular season, with the purpose of inserting her into a prostitution ring. Eight people were arrested for this episode.
According to his father’s account, on April 8 the minor went to one of the stadium bathrooms during the game but did not returnso he decided to immediately notify his disappearance to the security personnel of the compound, as well as to the Police of that Texas city.
“My daughter was missing in Dallas, this is a Dallas case, but they refused to open a case for her,” said the girl’s father, in an open criticism of the Dallas Police Department (DPD).
The security force responded that “those cases, by code, must be presented where the minor resides.” In addition, he “generated a report and assisted the North Richland Hills Police Department (lead agency as that was where the teen resided) and created a bulletin regarding the missing teen and submitted it to the department on April 11, 2022.”
However, the family of the missing minor entered a loop when North Richland Hills told her that she had to file the complaint in Dallas, because the kidnapping took place there.
An NGO, key in the search
It was in this context that parents They decided to go to a non-profit organization called the “Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative”, specialized in the fight against human trafficking, which after an intense search found images of the victim on an Oklahoma website offering sexual services.
With these data, the family was able to find the whereabouts of the minor ten days after her kidnapping. They found her at the Extended Stay America hotel. of Oklahoma, about 200 kilometers away from the Mavericks stadium.
According to the family’s attorney, Zeke Fortenberry, the teenager was sexually assaulted multiple times.
The Oklahoma City Police Department arrested eight peoplesix women and two men, under different charges, among which are kidnapping, rape, human trafficking, distribution of child pornography and prostitution.
Their names, as detailed Fox Newsson Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson y Steven Hill.
“We are grateful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and our daughter’s recovery. My heart breaks for the unimaginable things my daughter had to endure during the days she was taken away, and I am so glad that Be safe like us,” the girl’s mother said in a statement on May 5.
The family, now, will require the pertinent explanations not only from the Dallas Police and those responsible for the Mavericks stadium, but also from the hotel where the teenager was being held hostage, for not implementing security protocols in the presence of a minor.
DB