- Phoenix, AZ
The amber alert that was sent out Monday evening for a missing 15-year-old girl from Yakima is now being canceled after she was found in Phoenix Arizona on Tuesday. Elko County Sheriff's Office pulled over Eric Landeros age 34, after a region-wide from the west coast in Washington to the southwest in Arizona manhunt. The AMBER Alert was canceled for her as of 10:19 p.m., Tuesday night.
The 15-year-old girl is being held in Elko county until her parents can make the drive down to pick her up. Eric Landeros has been booked into the Maricopa county jail in Phoenix however one man Daniel B. Ovante is still on the loose possibly hiding in Mexico and law enforcement officials believe he is the main organizer.
According to KREM 2 News Spokane and their sister station 12 News (KPNX Phoenix) She was recently recovered in Arizona with 36-year-old Daniel B. Ovante, a man who previously coerced her via social media. The man had abducted her on Sept. 5 after posing as a 19-year-old, and Phoenix police did not find her until Oct. 27. Court documents show Ovante last year had gone to Yakima to pick the victim up. Phoenix police added that Ovante had sex with the victim in hotels on the way back to Phoenix. Ovante has a 16-year-old daughter who told Phoenix police he and the 15-year-old had sex "every day" from Sept. 5 to Oct. 27, when they were taken into custody, according to court documents. The daughter believed the victim was 17 years old. Ovante was then charged with nine sex crimes against the then 14-year-old. The man is a convicted felon and gang member.
Yakima PD says that the teen went to take out the trash the day of the kidnapping at around 11:20am. Yakima PD also said that the girl has been taken away from home once before. Ovante now has an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court. Officials in Phoenix said that they are now believing that he is now in Mexico where he has ties to Mexican gangs. Yakima and Phoenix PD have also acknowledges his active presence in gangs in both the cities of Yakima and Phoenix. Officials believed Ovante was taking Landeros and the victim to Mexico.
He has recently made threats to come take the girl and kill the family, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The Elko County Sheriff’s Office deputies and investigations division are now working jointly with the Washington State Patrol, Yakima Police Department, Phoenix Police Department and the FBI on this investigation.
Video above is from KPNX 12 News TEGNA from Phoenix, Arizona.
Article By: Brandon Sanchez, and KPNX 12 News TEGNA Phoenix, Arizona,
KPNX ARTICLE HERE.
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