CASS COUNTY, Ind. -- A 14-year-old girl from Logansport has been returned home and five men are in a Missouri jail for allegedly kidnapping the Cass County teen and driving her across state lines.
Investigators and other human trafficking experts agree the case can serve as a lesson to parents everywhere.
The victim's father reported the 14-year-old had runaway late Sunday night.
Thanks to technology and some quick police work, the girl was located less than 6 hours later in Macon County, Missouri. That's nearly 400 miles west of the victim's home.
According to court documents, officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol were informed shortly before 2 a.m. on June 17 that an active search was underway to locate a 14-year-old girl who was reported as missing from Cass County.
The suspect's SUV was being tracked by law enforcement using a cell phone belonging to the 14-year-old girl.
"She had her cell phone with her and they were actively pinging her phone to find her whereabouts," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Dunn.
During a traffic stop, the Missouri trooper reportedly saw a girl in the backseat of the vehicle who identified herself as the missing teen. The trooper then removed the juvenile and placed her in the patrol vehicle.
The trooper, with assistance from the Macon Sheriff’s Office, arrested Marlon Aguilar of Honduras, Arturo Eustaquio of Mexico, Noe Guzman Hernandez of Mexico, Daniel Ruiz Lopez of Mexico and Carlos Funez of Honduras.
The five men were taken into custody for endangering the welfare of a child.
All five suspects are being held without bond because they were in the country illegally from Mexico and Honduras.
"If I can give any warning to parents on your kids, know what your kids are doing on the internet," said Dunn.
In fact, the arrest report from Missouri state police claims the men were trafficking the young girl to California after meeting her online.
"We need to know what our kids are doing. Internet safety should be paramount at the forefront," said Dunn.
"Everybody is susceptible to being exploited, so where there's vulnerability you often find exploitation," said Genevieve Meyer with the Indiana Trafficking Victims Assistance Program.
Genevieve advises all parents to watch for red flags, like a sudden change in their child's behavior and monitor their online activity to prevent them from falling victim to sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Other red flags include the child being worried or anxious, spending a lot of time online and being secretive about their online activity.
"We used to talk to our kids about not getting into cars and stranger danger and now we need to have conversations about who they're talking to and what information they're sharing online,” said Meyer.
Based on the charges filed in Missouri, the suspects face a maximum punishment of up to seven years in prison, although the suspects could face federal charges as well.