Authorities from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department announced on Monday that a teenager from California who had been missing since January 1st, has been found safe.
Alinka Castaneda, 16, was last seen leaving her family’s home in Carson, California and entering an unknown vehicle at 5 a.m. on the same day, according to officials from the sheriff’s department.
A Ring doorbell camera recorded footage of an unidentified man walking towards Castaneda just moments before her disappearance.
Initially, her family believed she had run away, but they later received multiple distressing calls from her. During one of the calls, Castaneda shared with her sister and mother that she didn’t know her location and wasn’t allowed to leave. She sounded like she was under duress and stressing out, Moses Castillo, a private investigator working on the case told NewsNation.
Castillo added there was one adult male kidnapper, but there could be more involved. He told NewsNation the suspect’s identity was known but has not yet been not released.
