A Texas father heroically saved his teenage daughter by tracking her cell phone to find her after she had been abducted by a knife-wielding man on Christmas Day, authorities said.
The 15-year-old girl had been walking her dog near her family’s Porter, Texas, home, around 4:50 p.m. on Christmas when she was abducted, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
Authorities learned that the girl “had taken her dog out for a walk and when she did not return at her usual time, her parents became concerned.”
Using her phone’s location, the concerned father was able to track her to a wooded area nearly two miles away, where she was found inside a maroon-colored pickup truck with a “partially nude” man.
The father helped his daughter escape and called law enforcement, who promptly arrested 23-year-old Giovanni Rosales Espinoza, the sheriff’s office said.
Espinoza was taken into custody without incident and charged with aggravated kidnapping and indecency with a child.
He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail with no bail, authorities said.
“Christmas is a day meant for joy, but this man chose to shatter that joy by targeting a child,” Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said.
“I am incredibly proud of our deputies and detectives who worked tirelessly to ensure this dangerous predator was swiftly apprehended and is now off our streets. Rest assured that your Sheriff’s Office remains vigilant every hour of every day to keep your families safe.”
The sheriff’s department said its investigation remains ongoing, but no further information can be released at this time.
