Teenage Girl Rescued From Sex Traffickers After Being Abducted From Dallas Mavericks Game, Found in Oklahoma After 10-Day Search

“A 15-year-old Texas girl was rescued by police 10 days after she was kidnapped at a basketball game while using the bathroom,” Daily Mail reports.

The teenager’s father sounded the alarm after she went to the restroom at a Dallas Maverick game in the American Airline Center on April 8th and didn’t return to her seat.

The girl’s family pleaded with Dallas police to investigate but the department failed to do so due to Texas Family Code Laws, which treat missing teenagers as runaways unless there is evidence of kidnapping.

Her whereabouts were tracked down by Oklahoma City police after a counter-trafficking nonprofit found her nude pictures on a prostitution website.

Eight people have been arrested in connection to the crime.

Eight people have been arrested in Oklahoma City for allegedly trafficking a 15-year-old Texas girl, who was abducted at a Dallas Mavericks game last month when she left her father to go and use the bathroom https://t.co/tJ048uLoh9

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 21, 2022

Parents of 15-Year-Old Girl Who Was Kidnapped at Dallas Mavericks Game and Sold Into Sex Trafficking Want to Know Why The Cops In Dallas Did Nothing to Try to Help Find Their Kid; In The End, The Parents Found Her and Helped With Arrests (Vids) https://t.co/V4Wr0BBEBl pic.twitter.com/3maA6HonmQ

— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) May 21, 2022

From the Daily Mail:

Those treat missing teenagers as runaways unless there is evidence of kidnapping. It is unclear if cops made any effort to track down surveillance footage of the girl’s abduction, further details of which have yet to be shared.

The victim was only tracked down by Oklahoma City Police at an Extended Stay America Hotel after a counter-trafficking nonprofit found her nude pictures on a prostitution website.

‘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 towards her recovery,’ the girl’s mother said in a statement.

Fox News added:

She was gone for 10 days until authorities located her at an Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City on April 18.

The Oklahoma City Police Department has arrested Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson and Steven Hill in connection to the trafficking case. Gibson is charged with offering to engage in prostitution; Nelson, Hayes and Gonzales are charged with human trafficking and distribution of child pornography; Hill is charged with rape; Gibson and Alexander have felony warrants; and Wheeler has a robbery warrant.

“We are thankful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the recovery of our daughter. 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,” the girl’s mother said in a May 5 statement.

After the girl left to use the bathroom at the AAC and did not return, her father “immediately notified AAC security, staff, and Dallas [p]olice [o]fficers of her disappearance.” By the time the game ended, she “had not been found,” and her father was instructed to return home.

Fortenberry says the Dallas Police Department (DPD) never opened an investigation into the case despite multiple pleas from the victim’s parents.