PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (EYT) – A missing Guatemalan teenage girl who was possibly a victim of human trafficking was found at a Punxsutawney restaurant on Friday, October 6, according to police.
According to a published article in the Courier Express, authorities from the state of Massachusetts contacted the Punxsutawney Borough Police Department on Thursday, October 5, asking for assistance regarding a possible human trafficking victim in the Punxsutawney area.
According to the Massachusetts Commonwealth Fusion Center (CFC), a 16-year-old juvenile girl was last seen around 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 4, leaving to get on the school bus in Bedford, Massachusetts.
The juvenile was described as a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl, 4’11”, 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The girl was described as Spanish-speaking, with little-to-no English.
Video surveillance from a shopping center was obtained by the Bedford, Massachusetts Police Department where the girl’s cell phone was recovered. The video shows the girl entering a gray SUV. The driver of the SUV, later identified through vehicle registration, told investigators that he was “paid to drop the female off at a downtown business located on Mahoning Street in Punxsutawney, Pa.,” according to police.
On Thursday, October 5, Punxsutawney Borough Police checked apartments above the downtown Punxsutawney businesses for the juvenile; however, she was not located.
On Friday, October 6, the borough police obtained additional details after the driver was re-interviewed. He indicated that the girl was dropped off on the 1000 block of East Mahoning Street, and a man came out of the residence and paid him $400.00. The driver also provided police with a phone number for the man. Police were able to match the number to one from the victim’s recovered cell phone.
Although police did not find the juvenile in the area of the 1000 block of East Mahoning Street, a new lead was uncovered.
According to police, officers from the Punxsutawney Borough Police Department followed up on the new lead and responded to a downtown Punxsutawney restaurant with a flyer of the missing juvenile. Although employees at the restaurant indicated that they had not seen the girl, when the officers went into the kitchen area, they located the missing girl. She had her hat pulled down over her face, with her head down, and washing dishes.
She was taken to Punxsutawney Area Hospital for evaluation, then the Punxsutawney Borough Police released her to the Jefferson County Juvenile Probation Department.
