Eight suspects are in custody in connection to the trafficking of a 15-year-old Texas girl who had disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game.
The girl went to the bathroom at the American Airlines Center and never returned, according to a press release from attorney Zeke Fortenberry of the Fortenberry Firm, PLLC., on behalf of the family. The father immediately alerted security at the arena and Dallas police when she did not return to her seat.
The teen was missing for ten days before being located at an Extended Stay America in Oklahoma City. Melissa Wheeler, Saniya Alexander, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson, and Steven Hill were all taken into custody in connection to the case.
Fox News reports that Gibson is being charged with offering to engage in prostitution. Nelson, Hayes, and Gonzales are charged with human trafficking and distribution of child pornography, and Hill is facing rape charges. Gibson and Alexander have outstanding felony warrants, while Wheeler has an outstanding robbery warrant.
“We are thankful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the recovery of our daughter,” said the girl’s mother in a statement earlier this month. “My heart breaks for the unimaginable things my daughter had to endure for the 11 days she was taken, and I am so glad she is safe as we work toward her recovery.”
While the family is happy the girl is home safe; they are demanding answers from the Dallas Police Department, which failed to open a case. Instead, they pointed to a Family Code that treats missing juveniles as runaways “unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction.”
“My daughter was missing in Dallas, this is a Dallas case, but they refused to open a case for her,” the teen’s father said.
They are also questioning how a registered sex offender with a fake name and ID was able to rent multiple rooms at the Extended Stay America. Additionally, a ticket reseller known to the Mavericks and American Airlines Center may have sold a fake ticket to the male suspect who lured the girl from the game.
“The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game. The Dallas Police should have worked quickly to investigate leads and locate the teenager before she was trafficked to Oklahoma,” Fortenberry told the outlet.
“The Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City put profits ahead of people by turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation occurring right before their eyes,” he continued. “This victim’s life will forever be changed. We hope to hold accountable those responsible and create change within these organizations so that this never happens to any other child.”
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