The Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police say a 13-year-old girl who was reported missing in Dallas was later found locked in a shed outside of Charlotte, North Carolina over 1,000 miles away.
Authorities say a vehicle registered to a man living in the county where the girl was found held against her will is connected to the same man the girl was chatting with online.
The Davidson County Sheriff's office said in a news release that the girl was chatting with the man on a "social media chat platform" and said the "content of the chat was consistent with grooming and enticement."
Police say cameras near the 13-year-old girl's home shows the vehicle which was registered to Davidson County.
Agents with the FBI field office in Greensboro, North Carolina spotted the vehicle and stopped the driver as it was leaving the address it was registered to.
The girl was found locked in a shed or "outbuilding" located on the property during the vehicle stop, according to the Sheriff's office.
Police said when the teen was found she didn't appear to have sustained "any physical injuries."
Authorities said the girl was taken to a local hospital and then transported back to Texas.
Police held Jorge Ivan Santos Camacho and charged him with multiple offenses, including child abduction, human trafficking, and multiple counts of statutory rape of a child. He was held under a $1,250,000 bond.
In February President Joe Biden called for Congress to make protecting children online a priority.
“We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are doing, running on our children for profit,” the president said.
