Maria Gomez Perez father says the unexpected

Publicado el 30/07/2024 a las 18:08

After being missing for 57 days, the girl María Gómez Pérez was found safe and sound.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the news on July 25 on its Facebook page.

However, it was not until the following day that more details about her disappearance and who was involved were revealed.

Antonio Augustine, 34, was identified as the person who took Maria.

SHE SAYS WHAT THE MESSAGE SAID THAT HELPED FIND HER

According to Sheriff Gerald Couch, Maria had been in communication with Augustine through Facebook Messenger and other online applications.

The girl had expressed her unhappiness at home and her desire to leave by communicating with other adult men online and telling them the same thing.

In an interview with Univision Maria’s father shared that he received a message from his daughter on July 11.

«I’m Maria, I’m letting you know that I’m fine, don’t look for me,» the message said.

Initially, the father thought it was fake, but police used this information to track down the girl’s whereabouts.

Maria’s father revealed that he did not know Antonio Agustín and that he was from another state.

Sheriff Couch made it clear at a press conference that Maria is the victim, as she is only 12 years old.

The investigation was conducted by the HCSO Special Investigations Unit.

They obtained the IP address of the Facebook account used by Maria and traced the associated phone number to a house in Dover, Ohio.

Believing the information to be a credible lead, four HCSO investigators headed to Dover.

They then tracked the phone to the Dover City Park pool, where they located Maria and Augustin.

They followed them to the parking lot of a nearby shopping center, where they recovered Maria and arrested Agustin immediately.