A 13-year-old Texas girl was rescued Friday from a locked shed in North Carolina, and an adult male is now facing numerous felony charges.
According to Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons, police received a tip from the Texas FBI Violent Crimes Task Force concerning a girl who had been reportedly abducted from Dallas. The tip indicated that the missing child could be in North Carolina with an adult male she met online.
Around 10 minutes after receiving the tip, police honed in on a home in Lexington, North Carolina, off Linwood Southmont Road, where the suspect, 34-year-old Jorge Ivan Santos Camacho, had been staying, NBC DFW5 reports. As Camacho exited the property on Friday evening, police pulled him and detained him, then checked the property.
The victim was found hidden inside a locked shed behind the main home. She appeared uninjured but was taken to a hospital for a medical checkup before reuniting with her family in Dallas.
The property owner told police that she allowed Camacho to stay on the property but he didn’t live in the main house. Instead, he lived in the shed, which, according to police, had a bed and television inside.
The homeowner reportedly had no idea the suspect had a child hidden on the property.
Law enforcement rescued a missing 13-year-old girl from a locked shed in Lexington, North Carolina, after federal authorities provided a tip about the missing minor. https://t.co/zeRiysRAOF
— ABC News (@ABC) March 14, 2023
ABC News reports that the victim met the suspect on social media.
“The content of the chat was consistent with grooming and enticement, and he enticed her to actually leave the home where he picked her up in the area,” Simmons said.
The victim’s mother told ABC 8 Dallas that her daughter met the victim on Discord messenger while playing online video games. She said the communication happened for months; police continue to piece together the exact timeline of events but say the victim first met the suspect online, the met in person near some Highland Road apartments in Dallas.
Simmons warned that it takes a community to ensure children are safe, including parents, teachers, and schools.
“If it doesn’t stop at home, it comes to the schools and the teachers have that responsibility. If it doesn’t stop there it comes to us, unfortunately,” Simmons said. “As parents, they’ve got to wise up and see that the danger to these kids continues to go on. Please help us out. I am very thankful. I thank God that we were able to find this young girl. It may not be that case forever.”
On Saturday, Camacho was booked into the Davidson County Jail on rape, child abduction, and human trafficking charges. His bond was set at $1.2 million.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Jorge Comacho/Davidson County Sheriff’s Office]
