A Los Angeles County teenager missing since Jan. 1, who may have been held captive, has been found safe, authorities with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department announced Monday.
Alinka Castaneda, 16, left her family’s home in Carson, California, and was seen “entering an unknown vehicle” in the 23000 block of South Carodale Avenue at 5 a.m. that day, officials with the sheriff’s department said.
Footage from a Ring doorbell camera captured an unidentified man walking toward Castaneda moments before she disappeared.
While the teen’s family initially believed her disappearance may have been an attempt to run away, they later received several distressing calls from the 16-year-old.
“In this phone call, she actually shared with her sister and her mom that she didn’t know where she was then and wouldn’t be allowed to leave. She sounded like she was under duress and stressing out,” Moses Castillo, a retired LAPD detective and a private investigator working on her case, told NewsNation.
Castillo also told News Nation that there was at least one suspected male adult kidnapper, but that there could be more. He added that the primary suspect’s name was known and had not been released.
The sheriff’s department described Castaneda as a “critical missing juvenile,” asked for the public’s help in locating her and said that there was “concern for her well-being.”
A reward of $100,000 was offered for information leading to the teen’s safe return and for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance.
Authorities did not provide any details on where Castaneda was found or what condition she was in, though officials did tell KTLA that she has been reunited with her mom. It is unknown if any arrests were made in connection with her disappearance.
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