Eight Arrested After Snatching Teen at Dallas Mavericks Game

Teen girl, 15, trafficked from Mavericks game found 10 days later in Oklahoma

15-year-old girl was abducted while attending a Mavericks playoff game at the American Airlines Center in the company of her father, on April 8

Oklahoma City cops located her at an Extended Stay America hotel— roughly 200 miles away on April 18

Girl’s family is demanding Texas police explain why they refused to investigate their daughter’s disappearance forcing them to locate her themselves

Family found girl with the assistance of the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative The

The Oklahoma City Police arrested Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson and Steven Hill

Gibson is charged with offering to engage in prostitution; Nelson, Hayes and Gonzales are charged with human trafficking and distribution of child pornography; Hill is charged with rape; Gibson and Alexander have felony warrants; and Wheeler has a robbery warrant

Eight people have been arrested in Oklahoma City for allegedly trafficking a 15-year-old Texas girl, who was abducted at a Dallas Mavericks game last month when she left her father to go and use the bathroom.
The girl’s family is also demanding answers from Texas police about why they refused to investigate their daughter’s disappearance and were forced to locate her themselves with the assistance of the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative (TXCTI)—a nonprofit organization that was able to track down nude images of the girl on a prostitution website. The family through their attorney questioned the lack of interest by Dallas police department in finding the trafficked child.
The teen went to the bathroom at Dallas’ American Airlines Center on April 8 while attending the game with her father and never returned, the family’s attorney Zeke Fortenberry of the Fortenberry Firm, PLLC, said in a release, obtained by Fox News.

The family’s attorney Zeke Fortenberry, said despite the family’s pleas to the Dallas Police Department, authorities refused to investigate the case citing Texas Family Code laws, which consider missing juveniles to be runaways “unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction.”
“The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game.
She remained missing for 10 days until she was located by law enforcement 200 miles away, at an Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City, on April 18. When police raided the hotel the victim was found with convicted sex offender Kenneth Nelson in a room that had been rented with someone else’s ID. 
The victim’s parents eventually sought a nonprofit handling Texas trafficking cases called the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative (TXCTI) to help them locate their daughter.
The organization was able to track down explicit images of the victim on a prostitution website out of Oklahoma City. 

The Oklahoma City Police Department has arrested five women and three men in the human trafficking case.
Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson and Steven Hill in connection to the child abduction and prostitution incident.
Thalia Gibson is charged with offering to engage in prostitution
Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes and Kern Gonzales are charged with human trafficking and distribution of child pornography.
According to the arrest warrant Gonzales was the person who took the nude photographs. She has been charged with human trafficking and distribution of porn. 
Steven Hill is charged with rape.
Gibson and Alexander have felony warrants; and Wheeler has a robbery warrant.

After the girl left to use the bathroom at the AAC and did not return, her father “immediately notified AAC security, staff, and Dallas police officers of her disappearance.”
By the time the game ended, she “had not been found,” and her father was instructed to return home.
Dallas Police Department (DPD) never opened an investigation into the case despite multiple pleas from the victim’s parents.
The attorney said despite the family’s pleas to the Dallas Police Department, authorities refused to investigate the case citing Texas Family Code laws, which consider missing juveniles to be runaways “unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction.”
“The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game.

The Dallas Police should have worked quickly to investigate leads and locate the teenager before she was trafficked to Oklahoma,” Fortenberry told Fox in a statement.
The girl’s father said “My daughter was missing in Dallas, this is a Dallas case, but they refused to open a case for her.”
Dallas Police in response said officers took a report and included the missing teen in a bulletin.
Fortenberry also slammed the Extended Stay America hotel for allowing a registered sex offender with a fake name and ID to rent rooms.
“The Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City put profits ahead of people by turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation occurring right before their eyes. This victim’s life will forever be changed. We hope to hold accountable those responsible and create change within these organizations so that this never happens to any other child,” Fortenberry said.