A Texas father used the parental controls on his teenage daughter's phone to find and help rescue her after she was kidnapped at knifepoint while walking her dog on Christmas, local police say.
The 15-year-old girl was reportedly kidnapped in the Houston suburb of Porter, with the alarm raised when she failed to return by the time she was supposed to, the Montgomery Country sheriff's office said.
Her father then located her phone through the device's parental controls, located at a secluded, partially wooded area 3.2km away.
"The father located the victim and her dog inside a maroon-colored pickup truck with a partially nude 23-year-old male," the statement read.
"The father helped his daughter escape from the truck and contacted law enforcement."
Witnesses at the scene of the abduction provided a detailed description of a vehicle involved in the kidnapping and of its driver, leading deputies to identify 23-year-old Giovanni Rosales Espinoza as a suspect, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said they charged him with counts of aggravated kidnapping as well as indecency with a child.
"Christmas is a day meant for joy, but this man chose to shatter that joy by targeting a child," said a statement attributed to Montgomery County sheriff Wesley Doolittle.
"I am incredibly proud of our deputies and detectives who worked tirelessly to ensure this dangerous predator was swiftly apprehended and is now off our streets."
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