A girl was abducted at a Mavs game and found 200 miles away being trafficked for sex

[Jilly_in_VA]

I don’t delve into the macabre often. I don’t even watch Law & Order. Thinking about monstrous people isn’t something I enjoy. I understand the obsession with true crime, but podcasts featuring tales of sex trafficking, torture, murder, and rape are the last thing I associate with relaxation.

There is a place to talk about crazy fucked up shit, and often sports ain’t it. Bring up a story about human trafficking at the Super Bowl in the run up to The Big Game and watch how many people fidget uncomfortably until they can talk about wide receiver matchups again.

A recent story out of the Southwest caught my eye because the headline was so alarming and attention grabbing, and I thought, hell, this is as good a time as any to bring attention to an awful aspect of our world.

A Texas family was reunited with their 15-year-old daughter after she left her seat to use the restroom at a Mavs game and never came back. The girl was located — with more help from a Houston-based human trafficking agency than law enforcement — 200 miles away as part of a sex-trafficking ring.

The girl’s father notified police at the game, who told him to call the police department where he lives in North Richland Hills. They told him they couldn’t help because the incident happened in Dallas, according to the story.

Missing persons reports were filed and time passed. The family wasn’t satisfied and reached out to the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative, who located a nude photo of the girl used for online sex advertisements through facial recognition software and notified Oklahoma City Police. The police then found the teen and arrested eight people in connection with the case.

https://deadspin.com/a-girl-was-abducted-at-a-mavs-game-and-found-200-miles-1848924942
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This dad better sue the britches off the police at the game, who I assume were Dallas PD

[Blue Owl]

1. With all the heightened security these days, I can't believe cameras aren't all over that arena

Especially at every entrance/exit -- sounds like major police/security failure...

[uponit7771]

3. +1,

[TheBlackAdder]

18. I had someone literally ram a shopping cart into my fender, causing $1100 damages.

.

There was an imprint of the cart in the front fender. I asked the Aldi shop if there were cameras in the lot and one of the shift supervisors said there wasn't any, as then they would have to produce camera footage to the police on every incident. Instead, there are no cameras, a wasted police report and I just ate the expense as my deductible was $750. Couldn't track the shopper back to the sales receipt.

.

[rockfordfile]

2. That's Texas for you

[alphafemale]

4. Police are aiding and abetting

You can count on it.

[niyad]

8. And getting their cut.

[uponit7771]

5. Worst nightmare

[The Unmitigated Gall]

6. Sue their britches off...and their pants as well!

The crime happened in their damn jurisdiction. Unbelievable to refer a frightened and desperate family to some other police force in some other town. Precious time was lost, and massive harm came to this poor girl.

[spooky3]

7. Hey Mark Cuban--better tighten security. Nt

[Jilly_in_VA]

17. Better get some REAL security

instead of these half-assed cops who shrug their shoulders and say, "Not my business."

[Liberal In Texas]

33. What on earth could Mark Cuban have done to prevent this?

This is an absurd accusation.

The girl met this person -for whatever reason - and walked out with him willingly. It's on surveillance video.

No amount of security would have prevented this.

[spooky3]

36. Tightened security?

It’s not an accusation; it’s a suggestion.

[Liberal In Texas]

37. I'll say it again. NO AMOUNT OF SECURITY WOULD

HAVE PREVENTED THIS!

She voluntarily walked away with the perp. It's on video!

[spooky3]

38. You are awfully confident (and shouting) based on an unheard of source.

Here is an article identifying steps that could have been taken:

https://amp.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article261353877.html

You do not know that she “voluntarily” walked away with the suspect. He could have said “I have a gun, and if you make a sound or false move, I’ll kill you” or threatened her family, etc. You apparently didn’t see this post, which described other ways the suspect may have used to get her to go with him:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16696011

[Liberal In Texas]

40. The only thing that looks like the arena people did wrong was

From your Startlegram link: "He said the man that lured the teenage girl from the game found her in an area inside the center that he did not have a valid ticket to be in, and that the fraudulent ticket the man had was provided by an individual known to the Dallas Mavericks and American Airlines Center as a seller of fraudulent tickets." They could have been more proactive about keeping someone without a valid ticket out of this area.

Willing as opposed to being physically restrained and dragged from the venue. It's speculation that she was threatened just as it is that there is a good possibility that this teenager was meeting some guy she connected with on the internet.

There is just not a lot of information about this yet.

[LeftInTX]

9. Very infuriating.

Fortenberry said when the father realized his daughter was missing, he notified police at the game. But, according to Fortenberry, the father was told to report it to North Richland Hills police, where he lives.

The father called North Richland Hills police, but was told by the law enforcement agency that it couldn’t help because the the incident happened in Dallas, Fortenberry said.

North Richland Hills police said that they received the report about the missing teen at 1:27 a.m., about six hours after the game started. The department said the teen was entered in the national missing person database by 3:24 a.m. on April 9.

Dallas Police said they helped North Richland Hills PD and created a bulletin for the missing teen that went out to the department on April 11.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2022/05/11/texas-teen-goes-to-restroom-at-nba-arena-police-find-her-10-days-later-in-oklahoma-hotel-sold-for-sex/

Dallas dropped the ball...
They said the report needed to be filed where she "lived", but she went missing in Dallas. What a clusterfuck.
I would sue!

[dchill]

19. Dallas dropped the ball... like a hot potato.

[Phoenix61]

10. The cops at the game really screwed up. If she was 4

would they have said the same thing? What’s the magic number when they stop protecting children?

[keithbvadu2]

25. At birth? If you're not the right religion, political persuasion.

[bottomofthehill]

11. Maybe this is what Abbott meant when he said he would eliminate rape in TX

He would let the rapists take children to OK to rape them. There are many failures in this all of them led to the prolonged harm of a child.

[soldierant]

22. He said he would get them "off the sreets."

Apparently that means, anong other things, into sports events. (I originally figured it meant into government.)

[LonePirate]

12. Forgive my stupidity here but how does someone kidnap a teenager from a crowded arena?

Wouldn't she have started screaming for her life? If they had drugged or incapacitated her, wouldn't that have been noticeable? Wouldn't the whole thing have been on security footage in the arena?

I'm not discounting this horrific tragedy that ended with her rescue. It's just that the details of the kidnapping boggle my mind.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. .

Wouldn't she have started screaming for her life?

She obviously didn't, so it's time to start thinking of other options. He could have flashed a badge and said "your dad isn't feeling well, medical sent me to come get you and we'll meet him downstairs" or "your tickets look bogus, come with me to admissions and we'll sort it all out" or "Hi sweetie, I'm with Fan Services, we saw you on the fan cam and we'd like to bring you down to the locker room to meet the team; your dad said we'd find you here in the bathroom, let's go!" It's entirely possible he showed her a gun and simply said "come with me." It's not hard to think of dozens of lines that could work.

[Ferrets are Cool]

15. This

[LonePirate]

16. My first thought was she knew and trusted the kidnapper(s). Then it all went wrong for her.

I'm not blaming the victim here. It's just how brazen and public the crime was which truly shocks me. She wasn't grabbed in a quiet, low-traffic neighborhood while walking home from school. This was one of the most public and presumably secure places in America. My pea-sized brain simply cannot comprehend it all.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. That's one of the least likely scenarios IMO.

I'm not blaming the victim here.

With respect, "Wouldn't she have screamed?" comes pretty close.

[LonePirate]

23. No, a lack of screaming suggests she never thought she was in danger.

It speaks to how it happened and/or who did it. You cited someone in authority at the arena who would earn her trust immediately without raising suspicions. Is it more likely they worked at the arena or pretended to or was it someone she knew? Abusers of children are almost always someone who knows the child. This is almost the same thing. The audacity and details of the case are just so foreign to me.

[intheflow]

32. Most children found in sex trafficking rings do not know their abusers.

And it’s easy enough to imagine attractive lures or her being so scared she became mute. You are making some really weird assumptions here.

[LonePirate]

34. This crime is akin to someone stealing the Mona Lisa from The Louvre and walking out with it.

It’s so brazen and so many things had to go exactly right for her kidnappers that it almost defies the odds. It’s as if they had done this before and had a routine (or inside help?) or they made a mockery of probability tables that trip up most criminals. How do people and security teams try to prevent this from happening again?

[Liberal In Texas]

35. We don't know the entire story.

It is possible that she met her kidnapper on some internet site. She used the opportunity to be at the American Airlines Center to slip away from her father and meet the person. Surveillance video shows them walking out together. And how willing was she when they got to Oklahoma City and posed for pictures? Granted, a 15 year old cannot consent to do these things. But she might have been complicit.

And people here blaming local police should ask where the FBI was in all this. This was an interstate kidnapping, I thought that was federal jurisdiction.

[Scrivener7]

42. Or just MAYBE she did nothing wrong and it happened to her anyway!

Jesus! This is disgusting!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

44. "And how willing was she when they got to Oklahoma City and posed for pictures?"

My friend in Christ, you're being very weird about this.

[JanMichael]

45. Agreed. Very weird. What's next? The 15 year old was the mastermind of the whole operation?

And her stupid dad and that anti-trafficking group fuck ed up her diabolical enterprise where they were kidnapping adult men to be gimps for bitcoins?

[Scrivener7]

46. He's saying she wanted this. What kind of vile mind works that way?

[Scrivener7]

41. So what are you saying? She's faking? She's complicit? She's

dumb? What's your point with your claims that its so unlikely?

Ever had a gun pointed at you?

[LonePirate]

47. I'm saying the details of the case are very strange to me.

In my mind, it’s crazy that anyone would willingly walk out of that arena if someone was pointing a gun at them because my mind tells me I have a better chance of surviving with a crowd of witnesses than in some unknown place with no witnesses. It’s also mind-boggling to me how someone could have removed an incapacitated body from the arena.

Of course people often do not think or act rationally in extreme circumstances. Maybe she did have a gun pointed at her but that makes me wonder how the kidnapper got a gun in the arena in the first place. Did they use an unmonitored service entrance?

Almost all of this lack of understanding on this matter is on me as there are not enough details of the case to help me understand how it happened. That is necessary, not for me but for others to prevent crimes of this nature on the future.

[Scrivener7]

48. Vile, victim-blaming crap.

[LonePirate]

49. That's on you if you think someone seeking an understanding is blaming the victim

We don’t have enough information about what happened to make a judgment one way or another. As horrible as it was, maybe nothing could be done to prevent this in the future. We’re just making guesses if we have nothing to go on. If you have ideas on how to prevent future iterations of this without knowing how it happened on the first place, please step up and share them.

[Scrivener7]

50. I think someone who is blaming the victim is blaming the victim. So yeah. I'll own that.

[LonePirate]

51. You prefer to assail me instead of contributing meaningfully. That speaks volumes to your motives.

I have not been blaming the victim. I have repeatedly said nothing about this crime makes any sense to me. Instead of engaging in a helpful or educational dialogue, you attack me for seeking an understanding. This is not some one-off crime that could never conceivably happen again. Without knowing how it happened, how do you propose making sure it never happens again? You've been silent on that. I guess it is easier to attack an ally on this board instead of seeking a solution on a complex problem.

[Scrivener7]

52. Sure dude. I get it. She should have been screaming. She wasn't. So you're very suspicious.

And yes, I know it's not a one-off crime. It is a daily occurrence. It has been for your lifetime, and for a long time before that. But so glad you're on the case, now. Thank God for educational dialogue.

But sure. I hear you, man. If she was screaming, it would all make sense.

[LeftInTX]

24. May have had a female bait her in the lady's room

[Liberal In Texas]

31. She walked out with the kidnapper...she was lured.

“They tаrgeted а young аdolescent.”

“He got this 15-yeаr-old girl’s аttention with whаtever he sаid.”

“He sаid something to her to get her аttention, аnd it persuаded her to leаve.” He wаs аble to persuаde her of something becаuse she wаlked out with him.”

The teen wаs seen leаving the Americаn Airlines Center, but not with her fаther, аccording to surveillаnce footаge.

https://technotrenz.com/entertainment/lawyer-for-teen-who-went-through-the-unimaginable-for-11-days-after-being-lured-from-an-nba-game-and-trafficked-criticizes-police-policy-1889012.html

She wasn't dragged out of a crowded arena kicking a screaming.

[Mariana]

53. I think there's a strong possibility

she was groomed ahead of time and led to believe this person she left the building with was trustworthy.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. PrOtEcTiNg AnD sErViNg

[AntivaxHunters]

21. Thank you for posting this

I had never heard about this before nor was I aware this was even a thing.
I'm absolutely disgusted.....
I'm going to go bug Ali Velshi on Twitter who follows me and see if we can get some amplification on this.

[thesquanderer]

26. The positive side of facial recognition in law enforcement (n/t)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

30. Law enforcement isn't what used the facial recognition.

It was something called the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative, which is a very new organization for such a high-profile get.

[IcyPeas]

27. Can't imagine what that father must have been going through while the police passed the buck

Meanwhile time was slipping away. Does every state have a counter-trafficking initiative? Don't the cops have access to facial recognition software too? Mind boggling.

So glad she was located.

[multigraincracker]

28. Truth be told, most crimes go unreported.

Of those that are reported, most go unsolved. Reality is not a tv series.

[Tucker08087]

29. These people know how to instill fear.

They have a knife or a gun, hide it under a jacket when others can see, but the child has seen it. They threaten the child, but also her family. They are very convincing. Many children become victims to save the people they love. They are shocked and innocent, but the perpetrators know their weaknesses. My sister and I both lived with abuse trying to save the other. We didn’t save each other. We were also threatened with homelessness. When you’re a kid, you don’t know how these things work. You basically do what you have to do, or think you have to do. You don’t scream or call out for salvation. You just accept that this is the fate of someone saving their loved ones. Her lack of reaction is fairly typical. And I’m sad to say that she will never be the same. I hope with all my heart that she survives this and eventually has some kind of normal life. Many of us don’t survive the damage.

[Hugin]

39. BTW, should this young woman become pregnant from her ordeal...

She would be forced to carry it to term by bills pending in several states. Including TX. Thanks to the Alito SCrOTUS.

[Scrivener7]

43. This thread has some of the most heinous, victim-blaming

sick responses I have seen in a very long time.