A missing North Carolina teen girl was reportedly found behind a locked trap door in her abductor’s Kentucky home this past Christmas Day.
According to an arrest citation viewed by local station WKYT, the authorities were called to the home of suspect Zackary Jones, 34, by his father after an alleged altercation between him and his so-called “girlfriend.”
When the officers arrived, Jones claimed the “girlfriend” was no longer there. But as he walked the officers through the home, they observed drug paraphernalia and residue. When he tried to grab it and dispose of it without them seeing, they caught him and stuffed him in the back of a cruiser.
Afterward, the officers searched the home themselves and quickly found the girl.
“The citation says deputies found her inside a trap door that was hidden under a rug in Jones’ bedroom,” according to WKYT.
When the officers found her, she was reportedly “very high” and admitted she’d done drugs and had sex with Jones.
It turned out that the girl, reportedly 16 years of age, had been reported missing earlier in the month. Evidently, Jones had picked her up from North Carolina, brought her back to Kentucky, and tossed her behind the trap door.
“She says he made contact with her 2-3 weeks prior to picking her up and told her that he was 19 years old. The citation states when he showed up to get her, she said he looked older and he then told her that he had lied to her and that he was 25 years old,” according to local station WLEX.
“She told deputies that after they got to his home and met his family, she found out he was 34 years old. That’s when she claims to deputies that he threatened her and told her to tell others that she was 18 years old,” the station notes.
Kentucky man arrested after police find missing teen inside trap door hidden under a rug: 34-year-old is accused of taking the girl across state lines from North Carolina, strangling and having drug-fueled sex with her
Zackary Jones, 34, was arrested after Lincoln County… pic.twitter.com/3h2oY3Q2oq
— News News News (@NewsNew97351204) December 29, 2023
She also claimed that Jones had threatened to kill her with a handgun on multiple occasions.
“She also told deputies on the night he picked her up, they were stopped by a Lincoln County deputy for a traffic violation and that he was going to shoot the officer if they tried to get him or her out of the vehicle,” according to WLEX.
Jones is now facing a litany of charges, including assault, strangulation, unlawful transaction with a minor – illegal sex act, unlawful transaction with a minor – illegal controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), and resisting arrest.
This happened just a couple of months after another abduction was solved — this one in California.
Texas man allegedly kidnaps teenage girl, sexually assaults her while traveling to Long Beach https://t.co/nFiDHfHgEk
— KCAL News (@kcalnews) July 21, 2023
“Quick-thinking bystanders in Southern California helped rescue an out-of-state kidnapping victim who had been holding up a sign that said ‘help me’ inside a car, authorities said Thursday,” CBS News reported in July.
“The victim, a 13-year-old girl, was allegedly taken from a bus stop in San Antonio, Texas, the Long Beach Police Department said in a news release. The girl had allegedly been ordered into a vehicle at gunpoint on July 6,” according to CBS.
The girl was saved on July 7th after Long Beach police responded to a 911 call and found her “visibly emotional and distressed.”
According to the Good Samaritans who reported her, they were in a parking lot when they saw the girl trapped in a car, holding up a “help me” sign.
“Officers located and arrested the man suspected of kidnapping the teen. He was identified as 61-year-old Steven Robert Sablan. He had been inside a nearby laundromat washing clothes when the teen wrote the sign,” CBS News notes.
“Police said they found the firearm used to kidnap the girl was a black BB gun ‘which resembled a semi-automatic pistol.’ They also found a pair of handcuffs inside the car,” according to CBS News.
Sablan was subsequently taken to jail, where he was reportedly booked on a $100,000 bond for kidnapping, lewd and lascivious acts with a child, and being a fugitive from justice, and eventually released to the FBI on July 11th.
Steven Robert Sablan, 61, of Texas, has been charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. He allegedly abducted the girl at gunpoint in San Antonio on July 6, drove her to Long Beach, and sexually assaulted her repeatedly. @TheNewsTrending pic.twitter.com/MKXhCWMI3E
— Hot news (@TheNewsTrending) July 21, 2023
He was later indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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