CHP says abducted Idaho teen, two men located after Amber Alert issued in California
The California Highway Patrol said early Friday morning that it had located a 14-year-old girl believed to have been abducted from her home in rural Idaho, along with the two men thought to have taken her.
Just after midnight, the CHP announced in a social media post that an Amber Alert issued for the Sacramento region had been canceled after the teen and men were located.
The suspects accused of abducting the teen were booked into the Nevada County jail on charges of kidnapping, the CHP said Friday morning.
Around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, the agency had issued the 14-year-old girl who was believed to be in imminent danger. Authorities had asked for the public’s help in spotting the vehicle she was in — a gray 2011 Chevrolet Malibu with Idaho license plates.
At 12:07 a.m., the CHP announced it had located the vehicle but not the occupants. Twenty-six minutes later, the agency deactivated the alert, saying they had found all three.
Officials previously identified the two men who are suspected of abducting her as Sergio Anaya Alcantar, 18, and Carmelo Villanueva Galarza, 35. Alcantar and Galarza are in custody at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, Nevada County’s main jail in Nevada City.
According to the Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho State Patrol, the teen was taken from her home in Rupert just before 8 a.m. Authorities suspected the vehicle they were in driving southwest to Santa Rosa from the southeast Idaho town, 45 miles east of Twin Falls.
Alerts had been issued in Idaho, as well as for seven counties in Northern California – Napa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties – and many cell phones in the region with activated emergency alerts were notified.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 9:46 PM.
