Teen missing from Texas found locked in building over 1,000 miles away, NC cops say
A teenager missing from Texas was found over 1,000 miles away in a locked building, North Carolina officials said.
Jorge Ivan Santos Camacho is accused of abducting the 13-year-old with the intent of holding her “in sexual servitude.” He also took “indecent liberties” with the girl, according to warrants obtained by WGHP.
Now, after the teen was rescued, Camacho faces multiple child sex crime charges. The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina didn’t share attorney information for the 34-year-old suspect during a March 13 news conference.
“I thank God that we were able to find this young girl,” Sheriff Richie Simmons said in a video from the news conference.
The case dates to March 10, when Davidson County deputies said they received information about a girl who disappeared in Texas.
“Dallas, Texas, police were investigating a missing juvenile with the FBI’s assistance,” Simmons said. “They were able to discover that the juvenile had been communicating with an adult male through social media chat platforms. The content of the chat was consistent with grooming and enticement.”
The girl was lured from her home, where nearby video captured a vehicle that was registered in Davidson County, deputies wrote in a news release.
Officials said they learned the girl was taken to North Carolina and tracked her to a property tied to Camacho on Linwood-Southmont Road in Lexington, roughly 30 miles south of Winston-Salem. The girl was found March 10 in an outbuilding, which was locked on the outside, according to the sheriff’s office.
The girl reportedly “did not appear to have any physical injuries” but was evaluated at a hospital before she was taken back to Texas.
Camacho — whose first name also was spelled Jarge during the news conference and whose last name spelled Comacho in an email to McClatchy News — was booked into the Davidson County jail. He’s charged with child abduction, felonious restraint of a child, human trafficking, statutory rape, statutory sexual offense and indecent liberties with a child.
An investigation continues, and more charges are pending, Simmons said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 3:08 PM.
