SACATON, Ariz.- A 17-year-old Gila River kid has been located after being lost in Iowa for 11 days, according to the Gila River Police Department.
According to Gila River police, Liliana Munguía flew from Bapchule, Arizona, to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet a 20-year-old she had met online. The agency, the FBI, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Iowa launched an immediate search for her.
Munguía was discovered in Ankney, Iowa, and the FBI apprehended 20-year-old Malachi Reed, according to police. Officials did not specify whether she was hurt, but said she was “safe.”
“The swift response and coordinated actions of all agencies involved reinforce our shared commitment to addressing the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis. “I am grateful to my staff and our partner agencies for their dedication in locating and safely returning Liliana home,” stated Gila River Police Chief Jesse Crabtree.
daughter’s father, Juan Munguía, drove to Iowa to seek for daughter after learning she had gone there, as he previously told 12News.
He’s not sure how she met Reed or how long they’ve been communicating.
“She spoke to them and she’s been chatting to them for quite some time and she must have made plans with them, or I can’t, I can’t image what headspace she was in, but she ended up boarding an aircraft in Mesa, Arizona, and she made her way out to Iowa,” Juan Munguía said.
The Gila River Police Department praised various agencies that assisted with the search, including:
- Gila River Police Department
- Gila River Crime Victims Services
- Phoenix FBI Field Office
- FBI Omaha Field Office Des Moines Resident Agency
- Bureau of Indian Affairs MMIP Task Force
- Bureau of Indian Affairs Phoenix Division
- Arizona Department of Public Safety Intel
- Ankeny (Iowa) Police Department
- Des Moines (Iowa) Police Department
- Clive (Iowa) Police Department
- Iowa State Gang Task Force