After going missing for 10 days, a 17-year-old girl from the Gila River Indian Community was found in Iowa. The Gila River Police Department says the FBI has arrested a guy she met there.
The girl was reported missing on August 6 after she was last seen in Bapchule, a town south of Chandler.
Gila River police said in a news release that the girl bought a plane ticket from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet a guy she had been talking to online.
A news release said that the Gila River Police Department, the FBI, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Iowa worked together to find the girl because they had “serious concerns” about her safety and well-being.
Malachi Reed, 20, was arrested by the FBI on Friday afternoon in Ankney, Iowa, where the girl was found with him. The news statement said that his charges were still being worked out.
“All of the agencies’ quick response and coordinated efforts show that we are still committed to working together to stop the nationwide epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons,” said Jesse Crabtree, chief of police for the Gila River Police Department.
