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Shop NowMaria Gomez-Perez gave police all they needed to zoom in on Antonio Agustin. Logging into her Facebook account to message her father did the trick. Thanks to modern technology, the missing 12-year-old girl is home safe with her family. Social media is a two edged sword, used with equal destruction by criminals and cops alike. In this case, a 34-year-old Guatemalan pedophile used it to target Maria Gomez-Perez and the cops used it to target the pervert back.
Police zoom in
Police tracked down missing Maria Gomez-Perez in Dover, Ohio, on Thursday. The missing 12-year-old is on her way home to Gainesville, Georgia, after being gone two months.
Guatemalan migrant Antonio Agustin traveled 600 miles across state lines to snatch the emotionally troubled fifth-grader.
Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch explained to the press that “Gomez-Perez was tracked to Ohio when she used a new Facebook account to message her father last week.”
BREAKING: After 2 months, 12 year old Maria Gomez Perez of Hall County has been found safe and ALIVE.
Police have arrested 31y/o Antonio Agustin after they were seen together in a shopping center in Ohio. pic.twitter.com/CJxkUyIjlB
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) July 26, 2024
She insisted “she was fine and wanted him to stop looking for her.” Children seem to think they know it all at that age. The only thing dad could do is alert the police, and he did.
Investigators soon “traced the IP address of the account that sent the messages to an address in Dover.” Making things even easier, the Facebook message came from a phone. Each and every mobile phone is a reliable tracking device.
They soon had it talking to a dirtbox and police followed the pings to a local swimming pool. They made “visual contact” with both of them but decided to wait before moving in.
She was unhappy
After spotting the pair, “agents from Georgia and officers with the local Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office” followed them “to a nearby shopping center parking lot, where Agustin was arrested.”
Police ran Ms. Gomez-Perez to the local hospital for a check up and she was “en route back to Georgia on Friday morning.” Sheriff Couch was happy to relate “the safe recovery of Maria is great news.”
After piecing things together after the fact, it seems that Maria “had been communicating for a time with Mr. Augustin via Facebook Messenger and other online apps.” She made the mistake of telling him “she was unhappy and wanted to leave home.”
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 – HCSO Criminal Investigations Bureau investigators safely located and recovered Maria Gomez-Perez of Gainesville this evening in another state. pic.twitter.com/4BPMvryybG
— Hall County Sheriff (@HallCountySO) July 26, 2024
While police learned that “she had been communicating with other adult males online, telling them the same thing,” Augustin was the first one to make a move.
He drove from Ohio to Georgia and picked her up at the family home on May 29. He didn’t waste any time heading back north with his pre-teen prize. Nobody is talking about his immigration status but police say he’s being charged for crimes in both states.
Her father is ecstatically grateful. “I’m so glad this nightmare is over. They did a good job. It just took longer than expected, but we are excited.” The girl’s family is also from Guatemala.
