How cops failed a father: Daughter, 15, snatched by pedo ring found after nude pics put up on prostitution site
Police rescued a 15-year-old Texas girl 10 days after she was kidnapped at a basketball game. The unidentified teenager, who was abducted while using the bathroom, was reportedly trafficked by pedophiles. The girl's father raised the alarm after she left to use the bathroom and failed to return to her seat at a Dallas Maverick game in the American Airline Center on April 8.
The girl's family has now claimed that despite pleading with Dallas police to investigate, they did not do so due to Texas Family Code Laws, which treat missing teenagers as runaways unless there is any evidence of abduction. After the game ended and the girl had not come back, her father was instructed to return home. "My daughter was missing in Dallas, this is a Dallas case, but they refused to open a case for her," the girl's father said of the DPD.
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The DPD told Fox News Digital that an officer was informed that the girl had disappeared, and they had subsequently searched the event and location that night. The department said that they did not act beyond that because according to Texas Family Code (51.03 b. 3), "missing juveniles are investigated as runaways unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction."
"Those cases per code are to be filed where the juvenile resides," the department said. "A report was generated by Dallas Police and Dallas Police assisted the North Richland Hills Police Department (lead agency as that was where the teen resided) and a bulletin about the missing teen was created and went out to the department on April 11, 2022."
Oklahoma City Police tracked the teen down at an Extended Stay America Hotel only after her nude pictures were discovered on a prostitution website by a counter-trafficking nonprofit. "We are thankful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the recovery of our daughter. My heart breaks for the unimaginable things my daughter had to endure for the 11 days she was taken, and I am so glad she is safe as we work toward her recovery," the girl's mother said in a May 5 statement.
Eight people have been arrested in connection with the crime. They have been identified as Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson, and Steven Hill. As per an affidavit, Karen Gonzales took the girl's pictures and has been charged with human trafficking and distribution of porn. The victim was found at an Extended American Hotel in Oklahoma City, along with convicted sex offender Kenneth Nelson. They were found in a room rented with someone else's ID.
"A number of these people played a role in getting this girl trafficked for sex, whether it was taking pictures as one of them did or simply placing ads as another one did," Oklahoma City Police Department spokesperson Gary Knight said. "There were several people involved with not only this girl, but others. But we did everything we could to find this girl."
The girl's family has not only slammed Dallas police, but also the American Airline Center and the American Extended Stay hotel, for not doing enough to prevent the crime. "This victim's life will forever be changed. We hope to hold accountable those responsible and create change within these organizations so that this never happens to any other child," Zeke Fortenberry, the family's attorney, said in a statement, adding that "The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game. The Dallas Police should have worked quickly to investigate leads and locate the teenager before she was trafficked to Oklahoma. The Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City put profits ahead of people by turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation occurring right before their eyes."