A 14-year-old Washington girl, who has been missing from Mount Vernon for nearly a month, was safely located in Michigan on Thursday, according to authorities.
The Mount Vernon Police Department was able to track down the suspect, identified only as a 30-year-old man named “Keith,” by investigating ride-share service history in the area after learning that the teenager may have left home in a ride-share vehicle on Jan. 5.
“Mount Vernon has limited ride-share options, so investigators were able to locate a particular ride that Ella may have taken,” the department said in a Thursday press release. “Investigators were able to identify the subject ‘Keith’ who ordered that ride share for her and his address in South Haven, Michigan.”
The girls’ parents were “elated” with the news that the 14-year-old girl had been safely located, police said.
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A search on the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office jail roster shows record of a man named Keith Freeksen, whose charges match those detailed by police in their press release. (Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office)
Police said there is probable cause to charge the suspect with second-degree kidnapping because he transported Jones across state lines.
Jones’ mother previously told Fox News Digital that she had been communicating with an older man on social media before she disappeared from home on the evening of Jan. 5.
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Washington detectives contacted the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan, which traveled to the suspect’s property on the Blue Star Memorial Highway and took him into custody.
Keith Freeksen facing charges of first-degree criminal sexual assault, failure to register as a sex offender, and contributing to delinquency with children in Michigan. He is charged with kidnapping in Washington. (Facebook)
A search on the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office jail roster shows record of a man named Keith Freeksen, whose charges match those detailed by police in their press release.
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In Michigan, the suspect is facing charges of first-degree criminal sexual assault, failure to register as a sex offender, and contributing to delinquency with children, according to authorities.
Police are continuing to investigate Jones’ kidnapping.
