It was in American Long Beach, south of Los Angeles in the United States, that the 13-year-old girl was found and rescued on July 9.
“Help me”
The police had received an alarm about an “obviously upset and distressed girl” who was in a vehicle, which they write in a press release.
“During the course of the investigation, it has emerged that the good Samaritans were in a parking lot when they saw the victim in a parked vehicle holding a piece of paper with the text ‘help me.’ They took the message very seriously and immediately alerted the police,” the police write.
Kidnapped at gunpoint
According to the investigation, the girl had been kidnapped three days earlier. She had been forced into an unknown man’s car in San Antonio, Texas.
The man, who is in his 60s, allegedly pointed a gun at the girl.
He is said to have also threatened the 13-year-old girl with harming her if she did not do as he said.
Assaulted the girl
According to the investigation, the 60-year-old assaulted the girl on several occasions, AP reports.
From Texas, he allegedly drove with the girl through the states of New Mexico and Arizona before they arrived in California. It was when the man stopped at a laundromat and the girl was finally left alone that she took the chance.
The 13-year-old wrote the “help me” note, which was noticed by passers-by who alerted the police. Shortly afterwards, the police arrested the suspect and the kidnapped girl was released.
According to AP, the girl’s license plate, a pair of gloves, a knife and a realistic fake gun were found in the car.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the case, which is still ongoing.