Hunt for ‘abductors who kidnapped girl, 15, from basketball game before her nude pics were posted online by traffickers’
NEW details have emerged in the hunt for abductors who allegedly kidnapped a 15-year-old girl from a basketball game before nude photos of her were posted online.
A statement from a law firm representing the victim’s family was released on Friday, giving more information on the girl’s abduction.
According to the statement, the American Airlines Center, where the alleged incident took place, allowed the family's attorney, Zeke Fortenberry, to look at surveillance footage from the night the girl disappeared.
The girl was snatched from a Dallas Mavericks game she attended with her father on April 8, 2022.
She had left her seat and told her father she was going to the bathroom during the second quarter and never returned.
“The victim’s family now understands that a person of interest entered the AAC with two acquaintances on three valid tickets for upper-level seats,” read the statement.
“After entering the AAC, those three individuals met with a former Dallas Mavericks employee who escorted them to a suite, where they did not have valid tickets.”
The suite was located above where the victim and her father were sitting, according to a statement.
The person of interest and the other two acquaintances were in the suite for an hour, only leaving after the girl left her seat to use the restroom.
“The victim and person of interest were walking on the main concourse level and passed each other,” read the statement, however, it is unknown what was said between the victim and the person of interest.
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After their brief interaction, the victim turned around to catch up with the person of interest and they exited the area just a few minutes later.
The girl’s father began looking for her at halftime and informed AAC employees that his daughter was missing.
Employees and on-site security searched for the girl until 10:45, informing the father that his daughter was no longer on the property.
“For over an hour following the father reporting her missing, the victim, the person of interest, and a second person of interest are walking around the exterior AAC premises and parking garages before leaving the area completely,” read the statement.
The family’s attorney believes there was no prior communication between the girl and the person of interest before entering the area.
“While inside the AAC, when the victim was
at her seat and the person of interest was in the suite, we are unaware if there was any communication between them.”
The girl was eventually found alive days later in an Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City on April 18.
The person of interest still remains unidentified and the family asks anyone with information to contact the Fortenberry Firm.
ONLINE TRAFFICKERS
Following the girl’s abduction, nude photos were posted online by traffickers.
Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson and Steven Hill were arrested in connection to the alleged crimes.
Nelson, Hayes and Gonzales were charged with human trafficking and distribution of child pornography as reported by Fox News Digital.
Nelson, a known sex offender, had an identification card with a different name that he was using to rent the Oklahoma City hotel rooms, .
Gonzales is accused of taking illicit photos of the teen.
Hayes reportedly admitted to investigators that she saw the photos being taken and later posted them in the online sex ads.
Hill was charged with rape while the others have outstanding warrants.
Fortenberry said that Dallas Police never opened a case for the alleged kidnapping despite pleas from the girl's family.
"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.
However, the police department told Fox News Digital that an officer was searching for the missing teen on the night she disappeared.
The department didn't continue the investigation citing a Texas Family Code, stating that, "missing juveniles are investigated as runaways unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction."
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"Those cases per code are to be filed where the juvenile resides," the department told Fox News Digital.
The Oklahoma City Police Department arrested the individuals involved in the alleged crime.
