Case Solved: 16-Year Old San Mateo Girl Found In LA
This Summer An Underage Girl Went Missing in San Mateo County.
We Found Her.
She was in high school when a man lured her away.
He told her she was pretty, he loved her, he would buy her nice things…..
Girls who go missing are, more often than not, kidnapped for commercial sexual exploitation.
Special Operations works closely with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, who immediately began looking for her online. Working with investigators and criminal intelligence providers, they used facial recognition software to compare a photo of her with photos of girls being sold for sex on Backpage.com.
The team was able to determine with 93% certainty that the original photo was the same girl being sold for sex on Backpage.The phone number associated with the Backpage ads led to 4 individuals who may have been associated with her sexual exploitation. At least one of the men is considered violent with a criminal history of homicide. By tracking the geographical location of these ads, the team discovered that within one month, she had been sold for sex in the North Bay, San Francisco, Palm Springs and Orange County.
Based on the information from this investigation, law enforcement authorities in Orange County set up a sting operation. The sting operation resulted in the human trafficking arrest of 2 men from the East Bay on August 9, 2017. They are being held without bail in Orange County Jail on human trafficking charges.
This operation involved 14 people and cost approximately $22,000.
Sex trafficking of children in the Bay Area is a problem money can solve.
Today, predators can reach vulnerable children through phones, social media, gaming platforms, and the internet, often before families realize something is wrong. Finding Kids responds through three core programs: Recover. Care. Target. We help locate missing and exploited children, support families during and after recovery, and work with law enforcement to identify and disrupt those who exploit youth. Our work continues after a child is found because recovery is only the beginning. By combining investigations, aftercare, and prevention, we help children return safely to their homes, schools, and communities while building a future where every vulnerable child receives help before crisis becomes exploitation. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and 100% of your tax-deductible donation goes directly towards keeping kids safe. We cannot do this work without your support.
*Names has been changed to protect the victim’s identity.