Arrest made after Long Island girl kidnapped, held captive for weeks: sources
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EAST PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (PIX11) – A suspect has been arrested after a 14-year-old Long Island girl was kidnapped and held captive for weeks on a boat, sources said Monday.
The suspect is being charged with kidnapping, rape, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to sources. The girl was held against her will from Dec. 13 until she was found on the suspect's boat on Friday, according to sources.
The suspect was arrested the same day the girl was found, according to sources.
The 14-year-old was reported missing after she left her home in East Patchogue on Dec. 9, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
The girl was at home with her mother when she said she was going out to the driveway to look for something, according to her father, Frank. Video appears to show the 14-year-old either getting into or being pulled into a car before she vanished, her father said. The girl left her house without shoes on, according to her father.
“I believe that she might have left willingly to get something out of a car and maybe got pulled in at that point,” Frank said.
Frank had been driving around communities day and night in search of his daughter. He was scouring the streets, posting flyers, looking through the woods, and talking to locals trying to find out where she was.
He said he found his daughter on a boat in Islip after receiving a tip that she was there. The father said he drove to the boat himself and found her onboard.
“I’m not going to talk too much on social media about the guys involved or any of the events, but I did bust into the boat and recover my daughter. I did clear the boat. There was nobody else on the boat at the time when I got there,” Frank said.
Frank added that the investigation is active and ongoing. He believes his daughter was the victim of sex trafficking.
“[She] was being held against her will. She was not allowed to leave the boat unless she was escorted by somebody. And she was being forced to do things that a 14-year-old girl shouldn’t have to do. So I do believe this was sex trafficking, and it’s being looked into,” he said.
Frank said his daughter is now safe and getting help at a facility.
“[She] has a long road of recovery ahead of her. We’re going to do everything possible to get her the help she needs. She’s an amazing kid,” the father said.
Frank said he felt elated when he found his daughter.
“Having her safe in my arms was just the most amazing feeling in the world,” Frank said.
Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than six years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.