Two missing 14-year-old girls rescued after police track them through 4 Texas cities
Six days after their disappearance, a pair of 14-year-old girls were tracked through four Texas cities and rescued, authorities said.
The two girls went missing on June 29 and were reported as having been abducted from McGregor, Texas, just over 90 miles north of Austin. After initially not meeting the criteria for an Amber Alert, authorities issued an alert on Monday, July 4, McClatchy News reported.
Early on the morning of Tuesday, July 5, the girls were found in Georgetown, Texas, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said during a news conference streamed by the Waco Tribune-Herald and KXXV. Georgetown is about 65 miles south of where the girls were last seen.
The sheriff said the girls “were in a very dangerous situation with several different people. And so we have reason to believe that they were mistreated very badly.”
The crime investigation division and human trafficking unit tracked the girls through four different cities, a total distance of about 167 miles, McNamara said. Officials said the teens were taken to at least five different homes, WFAA reported.
The girls were tracked from McGregor to Bellmead to Belton back to McGregor and finally to Georgetown, McNamara said.
“We’re very worried about what might have happened to ‘em,” said McNamara.
The individual found with the girls in Georgetown was arrested on charges of harboring, McNamara said. The individual had no relation to the girls, authorities told KCENTV.
“We’re gonna be filing charges and there will be some other arrest made,” McNamara said as the investigation is ongoing.
The girls may have initially run away but human trafficking may also have been involved, according to WFAA.
The Amber Alert was issued after one of the girls asked for help on Snapchat, reported The Waco Tribune-Herald.
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