Sex traffickers kidnapped a 15-year-old girl after going to the bathroom during an NBA game. The teen’s parents wasted no time in trying to rescue their daughter. After eleven days, she was retrieved from a hotel room in Oklahoma City.
NBA game
On April 8, the young girl and her father watched a Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The daughter excused herself to the bathroom just before halftime and never came back.
Surveillance cameras showed that she had left the building with an unidentified man.
The father immediately reported his missing daughter to the local police. But, the Dallas police department only told him that he should file the case with the North Richland Hills law officers since it is where they reside.
And yet, later on, the North Richland police officers gave him little assistance since they claimed that the incident happened in Dallas.
Because of this, the teenager’s parents got impatient and looked for another way to help them reunite with their daughter. So, they turned to Texas Counter-trafficking Initiative.
Human Trafficking
The Houston-based anti-trafficking organization used its facial recognition technology and successfully located their daughter. They had identified her in explicit photos posted online for sexual advertisements.
On April 18, the girl was found in a hotel in Oklahoma, 200 miles from where she was taken. According to WFAA-TV, police officers arrested eight persons involved in the crime.
The family’s attorney Zeke Fortenberry argued that the Dallas and North Richland Police Departments could have saved the child earlier. He said, “This girl was being sexually assaulted in a hotel room multiple nights. Any time she could have been rescued from that sooner would have been better.”
He also called out the hotel staff and the Dallas Mavericks team. He said that the hotel should be cautious when a someone in their forties comes in with an underaged girl and rents multiple rooms. Meanwhile, the Dallas Arena was allegedly pawning phony tickets as to how the trafficker could enter the game.
Fortenberry added, “Our intent is to put [these organizations] on notice that we’re pursuing claims against them for their negligence and other causes of action.”
Exodus Cry, an anti-trafficking campaign, shared, “While we celebrate that this child was rescued, many are never found.”
Let us continue to raise awareness against Human Trafficking by sharing these stories and praying for the victims’ freedom.
Reference: CBN News
Heather Schott is the Lead Pastor of Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Landon Schott. They’ve been married for 15 years and have three children, Payton, Preston and Porter.