A Texas father’s holiday joy turned to fear on a family-friendly day when his 15-year-old daughter didn’t return from walking her dog, authorities said.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post that her parents became concerned when she was out longer than it would normally take to complete the walk.
The distraught father turned to parental controls on the teen’s phone and tracked her location to a secluded and partially wooded area in Harris County, about 2 miles from their home in Porter and less than 30 miles from Houston.
The father followed the location into the woods.
When he arrived, he found his daughter and her dog in a maroon pickup truck with a half-naked stranger inside.
The father helped his daughter escape the truck and contacted authorities, who, with the help of witnesses at the scene, located the truck and identified the driver as 23-year-old Giovanni Rosales Espinoza, also of Porter, although the family told CNN affiliate KHOU they did not recognize him.
The identity of the teen and his family have not yet been released.
The rescue underscores the growing popularity of parent-tracking tools, from smartphone location sharing to dedicated safety apps, as research shows kids are using smartphones at younger ages and more families are turning to these tools for greater peace of mind.
Montgomery County detectives said the investigation revealed the suspect threatened the victim with a knife and abducted her from the street.
Espinosa was taken into custody without incident and charged with aggravated kidnapping and child molestation, according to inmate arrest records.
Giovanni Rosales Espinoza appears in the booking photos. – Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle praised his deputies and detectives for their work in arresting Espinoza and assured the community the department is committed to keeping families safe.
“Christmas is a time of joy, but this man chose to ruin that joy by targeting children,” Doolittle said.
Espinoza is being held without bail at the Montgomery County Jail. It was unclear whether he had a lawyer.
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