Semi-truck driver charged with kidnapping in disappearance of North Texas teen, police say

A semi-truck driver has been charged in the disappearance of a Little Elm teen who was found Tuesday in Dallas, police said.

The suspect, Richard Laird of San Antonio, was charged with aggravated kidnapping and served with nine additional warrants for the sexual assault of a child.

The 16-year-old was reported missing on Sunday, according to a post on the Little Elm Police Department’s Facebook page.

Tracking dogs lost her scent not far from her residence in the South Paloma Creek area, and authorities concluded she had gotten into a vehicle.

Little Elm police issued a Be On the Lookout Bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the nation, listing the teen as “a missing and endangered person.”

Late Monday evening police were given a phone number the missing teen had been in touch with up until the time she left home. That allowed detectives to identify Laird as a potential suspect. They also learned Laird had communicated with the girl online prior to her disappearance.

Detectives went to the location Laird is based out of in southeast Dallas on Tuesday evening. They found the 16-year-old in the cab of one of Laird’s trucks, according to a police statement.

Laird arrived while law enforcement officials were assisting the girl, and was taken into custody without incident, authorities said.

Police said the teen was “in overall good health” and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. She was later reunited with her family.

Laird is being held in the Denton County Jail with bond set at $500,000. He hasn’t been arraigned yet on the charges.