Posted on 05/12/2022 9:28:18 PM PDT by Trillian
A North Texas teenager disappeared after going to the bathroom at a Dallas Mavericks game. A week later, her parents found her on nude advertisements for sex trafficking online in Oklahoma City.
The harrowing incident is the basis for a lawsuit by the family against numerous organizations they said could have stopped the crime but didn't.
The 15-year-old went to the game with her father on April 8 at the American Airlines Center. She went missing after leaving to go the bathroom right before halftime, and surveillance video captured her leaving with a man.
The parents of the teenager said they were able to discover her whereabouts after seeing her photograph in nude online advertisements selling sex.
A week and a half later on April 18, police found the girl in a room at an Extended Stay America hotel more than 200 miles away from the arena.
"She was gone missing a total of 11 days," said attorney Zeke Fortenberry, who is representing the family.
Fortenberry's office released a statement identifying the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Police Department, and the American Airlines Center as groups that could have intervened to protect the girl but didn't.
He says that the father tried to file a missing person's report with the police but they told him to contact the North Richland Hills Police, where he lives. He says he was told to go home. When he called the North Richland Hills Police, the father says they were unable to help because the incident occurred in Dallas.
"The family was frustrated," Fortenberry explained. "After days of not getting any information from the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Police not taking any action, the family sought out the help of this agency in Houston.”
He says the family was able to find their daughter through the help of the human trafficking agency Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative in Houston through the use of face-recognition technology.
“That agency was able to help them locate the photograph of their daughter online within the same day," Fortenberry added.
The Oklahoma City Police were able to rescue the girl and arrest eight people involved in the case.
Fortenberry said the Dallas police didn't even ask the father for a photograph of their daughter.
In response, the Dallas police said that they had searched the arena and sent the law enforcement code that explained their actions that night.
"Texas Family Code(51.03 b. 3) dictates that 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 North Richland Hills Police said that they had entered the information of the missing girl into the national missing person database within a few hours of receiving the report.
Fortenberry says they didn't do enough to save the girl and lessen the assault she received. "Any time she could have been rescued from that sooner would have been better," he added.
He also said that someone at the hotel ignored the signs of abuse when she was taken there.
"When a 40-something year old man walks in with a 15-year-old girl and rents multiple hotel rooms and then there is traffic coming in and out of those rooms, those are red flags," Fortenberry explained.
He also claims that the man was able to attend the game with a fake ticket sold to him by a person known for selling fake tickets.
The eight suspects were arrested on charges including human trafficking, distribution of child pornography, and rape.
Jeez.
I hope they get a billion dollars.
Thank the Lord the girl was found.
“That agency was able to help them locate the photograph of their daughter online within the same day”
They can do the same thing with your face, your car, your voice, they way you walk...
any man or woman involved in this, there’s an easy and fast solution that should always be followed
no sympathy for men or women who do this
which is why no sympathy for maxwell
if anything ladies you should demand it for her, shes a woman exploiting other young females
Kid will never get over it.
There are some men who need to see some real punishment.
Don’t defund the police. Privatize them. When they actually have to work or get fired, they’ll work.
SPJNK
Link to the non-profit mentioned in the article.
Thank you, Lord, that she was found! Please help her to recover, in Jesus Name, Amen.
It looks to me like the parents knew right away their daughter was a runaway involved in sex trafficking. It also looks to me like they’re trying to find some deep pockets in which they can sue and collect.
There is a lot more to this story than is being told here. This was a pre-arranged meeting. No one runs away from home with a man they just met in a ladies room at a football game. A pre-planned way to get out of the house and disappear into a large crowd.
Basically a voluntary run away situation.
One thing that could help prevent this would be if bathroom attendants with walkie talkies were hired for large venues. Of course, the girl may have been hit on before she even got to the bathroom.
Oh baloney!
How do you come to that conclusion?
This is horrific
“… This was a pre-arranged meeting. No one runs away from home with a man they just met in a ladies room at a football game. A pre-planned way to get out of the house and disappear into a large crowd.
Basically a voluntary run away situation.”
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You’d never make a good cop. You’re filled with unwarranted inferences. Mama always said “Assumption is the Mother of all f@@kups”. You don’t have the first clue and certainly lack any understanding of how traffickers manipulate their victims.
*** “Texas Family Code(51.03 b. 3) dictates that 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.” ***
Two teen girls went missing in my town years ago. Police insisted they were runaways. It was pretty obvious they had car trouble. They were offered a ride by a local young man.
Years later their remains were found. Heads had been bashed in with a rock after being raped, and left to the buzzards.
Another two girls who were runaways were locked up in a hotel here by local wealthy businessmen. They escaped and told local police (who ignored them) they were being sold for sex.
Cop on donut break had left his patrol car running with keys in it. The girls stole it, and with lights flashing, and sirens blaring, headed down I -10 to Houston, unimpeded. Found a cop who believed them.
The local businessmen, I think 9 months probation was the harshest sentence any received. Disgusting.
People would be dead.
Many people.
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