Sheriff: Missing Texas girl found locked in NC outbuilding
Mar 13, 2023, 3:44 PM
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A missing 13-year-old Texas girl was found locked in an outbuilding near a North Carolina home, authorities said Monday.
Investigators with the Dallas police and the FBI say a 34-year-old man enticed the girl to leave her home while communicating with her on social media, then picked her up in his vehicle, Sheriff Richie Simmons said at a news conference in Davidson County, North Carolina.
Video cameras near the girl’s house filmed a vehicle registered to an address in Davidson County, and a special agent with the Texas FBI Violent Crimes Task Force contacted the sheriff’s office there on Friday, officials said in a news release.
“Within 10 minutes our guys had eyes on that residence,” Capt. Stephanie Murphy said. “Everything moved fairly quickly after that.”
Investigators found the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop on the owner as he left the home, officials said. During the stop, they figured out that the girl was locked in an outbuilding on the property in Lexington, where she was found. She was taken for medical evaluation and eventually returned to Texas, officials said.
The man, identified as Jorge Ivan Santos Camacho, was taken into custody and charged with abduction, felonious restraint, human trafficking, statutory rape, statutory sex offense and indecent liberties. He was being held on $1.25 million secure bond. An attorney was appointed at a hearing Monday. The attorney did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
