After receiving a tip from federal authorities on the missing child, police were able to free a 13-year-old girl from a locked shed in Lexington, North Carolina.
Sheriff Richie Simmons of Davidson County stated that an FBI Violent Crimes Task Force had sent his office information regarding a child who had been kidnapped from Dallas. The missing girl was found by authorities in Lexington, North Carolina, in an externally locked shed behind a house.
According to the sheriff, Jorge Camacho, 34, used a social media messenger to lure the girl from her home to his car.
“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 exact date of the abduction is still unknown because the investigation is ongoing, but according to the authorities, “camera activity” allowed them to identify the culprit and the car used in the abduction within 10 minutes of receiving a report.
Police searched Camacho’s house and discovered the kidnapped girl in a shed outside.
Records from Davidson, North Carolina show that Camacho was booked on Saturday at the Davidson County Jail. He is accused of several crimes, including rape, kidnapping, and people trafficking.
“I thank God that we were able to find this young girl; it may not be that case forever,” Simmons said, adding that his office had looked into a concerning number of such cases.
According to data from the Department of Justice, more than 2,100 people were reported to federal authorities for human trafficking offenses in 2020, a 62% increase from 2011.
In 2020, 365,348 children were reported missing, with estimates indicating that 30% of those were being actively trafficked, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Given children’s possible vulnerability to evil actors, Simmons advised parents to pay attention to their kids’ social media usage.
“We’ve had to do this so many times, it’s crazy,” he said. “That’s why we’re pleading with these parents.”