Detectives just found a missing teenage girl in the basement of a California home. The teen had been reported missing for more than a week. She is now safe at home with her parents. Three adults were arrested in connection to the case.
Missing girl found safe
Kaylee Arnee is a 14-year-old girl from Calaveras County California, a rural area of the state 60 miles southeast of Sacramento. On October 22 she was visiting friends in West Point when she thought it would be a good idea to run away from home.
Her parents arrived at the scheduled time to pick her up, only to be told that Kaylee had already left. Her parents then immediately filed a missing person report with the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department and the search began.
Detectives sprung into action. On November 2 they were able to track the runaway girl down at a home in Calaveras County. Three adults were living in the home and when questioned by detectives they all denied knowledge of Kaylee’s whereabouts.
But detectives weren’t buying it. They later returned to the home to search it and they found the girl hiding in a basement closet. Police also found a hidden trapdoor that led under the house.
Police believe that Kaylee Arnee ran away on her own and was hiding in the basement voluntarily. They found her phone and some bedding in the basement and said there was no evidence that she was being held against her will. Police then arrested the adults at the home.
20-year-old Isaiah Haggard, 41-year-old Annie Pearl Abernathy and 34-year-old Jose Tinocopureco are charged with providing false information to a peace officer and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Detectives claim that Haggard deliberately distorted the facts around Kaylee’s disappearance.
Thankfully, Kaylee is home safe. Many kids are not so lucky. One report states that 1 in 7 kids between the ages of 10 and 18-years-old will run away at some point. There are anywhere from 1-3 million runaway and homeless kids living on the streets of the United States.
