MAGNA, Utah – A missing Magna 14-year-old girl was found in Texas, just hours after an amber alert was issued Tuesday.
Unified Police Department said Areli Arroyo Osuna was spotted on Monday driving a black Nissan Altima, driven by 20-year-old David Lopez. Even though it was initially thought of as an airport, officials believed Osuna was in “some serious danger.”
Both were originally thought to be Texas or Mexico.
On Tuesday afternoon, the UPD said Osuna was “located and is in custody in Texas,” and that the suspect was also in custody. The department did not say whether the suspect was Lopez.
“[Osuna] has no relation to [Lopez]”Sgt. Melody Cutler told UPD.” They met on social media a few months ago. He showed up in town and she left with him. Based on what we find on social media, it does not look like he is from Utah, but again, we are not 100% sure about it.
The UPD will send detectives to Texas to continue their investigation.
With Osuna and Lopez, also known as Amilsar Vaquez, online, Cutler shared a message about the dangers of social media.
“We know there are kids out there who believe their social media is their private business, but it’s a dangerous place,” Cutler said. “Ultimately, it does not matter – any social media site is a potential threat to communicate with people we do not know. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok; all of these sites. These predators are very good at caring for children and getting to do things they would not normally do. “
This is the second case in the last two weeks where a Utah teenager met a man they met on social media and found themselves in a dangerous situation. Two weeks ago, a thirteen-year-old man from Roosevelt, Utah, was found in a semi-truck in Wyoming, after two days of the FBI searching for her location.
Cole Parkinson, with Boys and Girls Clubs of Utah County’s nonprofit digital security organization Net Positive (formerly known as ‘Utah NetSmartz’), said Internet predatory professionals are there for teens to rule out their vulnerable feelings.
“They are great for building a relationship with time in a very anonymous way and at a distance where it does not feel threatened,” he said.
He said that the friends of these teenagers also have a responsibility to say something before it is too late.
In this case, friends of the Magna teenager told police that the couple may be on their way to Texas. That tip was ultimately right.
Parkinson said the proverb “Snitches get stitches” is not the best mantra to protect your friend.
“I would like to change that proverb to ‘snitches solve problems’ because we have an obligation to support ourselves as parents, but also friends play a really big role in this,” he said.
Former Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said parents can monitor social media apps and install Internet programs on everything, but it’s communication that goes a long way.
“We try to regularly identify who they are in contact with, where they are going, and from time to time review this information to make sure the relationship is open and honest and two-way,” he said.
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