WFCN –
The Gila River Police Department reported that the FBI has detained a guy whom a Gila River Indian Community girl, 17, met in Iowa after she went missing for ten days.
Bapchule is a village south of Chandler, and the girl went missing on August 6. Her disappearance was reported missing on the same day.
The girl allegedly bought a plane ticket from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to Des Moines, Iowa, so she could meet a guy she had been corresponding with online, according to a press release from the Gila River police.
Authorities in Gila River, the FBI, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Iowa collaborated to find the missing girl due to “serious concerns” about her safety, as stated in the news release.
The FBI apprehended 20-year-old Malachi Reed on Friday afternoon in Ankney, Iowa, where the girl was found. According to the press statement, his charges have not yet been finalized.
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Gila River Police Department Chief Jesse Crabtree stated, “The quick response and coordinated efforts of all agencies involved reaffirm our mutual commitment to addressing the nationwide Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons epidemic.”