A Georgia girl who had been missing for two months was discovered with a man who was 31 years old and with whom she had been conversing online previous to her abduction throughout that period.
According to a statement released by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, July 25, Maria Gomez-Perez, who was originally from Gainesville, Georgia, was discovered “safe and acceptable” in another state.
According to the police, she was last seen on May 29 in her residence.
A press event was held on Thursday, during which Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch stated that Maria was discovered alongside Antonio Agustin, who is 31 years old.
Couch stated that he might be facing many felony charges because he took a child across state borders. However, the police could not identify any charges that were brought against him.
According to him, the police’ belief is that Maria had been conversing with Augustin through several internet applications, including Facebook.
According to Couch, Maria had communicated that she was dissatisfied and that she desired to leave her house. She also mentioned that she had been speaking with other “adult males” online and that she had provided them with the same information.
In this situation, Maria is the victim, as Couch put it. “Let me be very clear on this,” he remarked. Please keep in mind that she is only 12 years old.
Augustin allegedly drove from his residence in Ohio to pick up Maria from Gainesville on May 29, according to Couch, who stated that the investigation discovered all of this information.
During the entire incident, Augustin is believed to have been present in his residence with Maria. The investigation received a significant boost the previous week when, according to the authorities, Maria allegedly sent a message to her father, Gomez Alonzo, on Facebook, requesting that he cease his search for her.
Couch stated that she was messaged by her father through a new Facebook account that she had created to communicate with him. She informed him that she was doing fine and that she would not be returning home.
Following Alonzo’s notification of the authorities, they were able to locate Maria by tracing the IP address to an address in Dover, Ohio. They discovered Augustin with Maria at a swimming pool in the area.
Following that, officers from Hall County, along with authorities from Tuscarawas County in Ohio, took Augustin into custody from outside of a shopping complex, and they were able to retrieve Maria from the location without incident, claimed Couch.
According to PEOPLE, Augustin was taken into jail in Tuscarawas as of Friday afternoon, and it is anticipated that law enforcement officials from Hall County will file charges against him.
An investigation is ongoing.