The family of a 14-year-old girl found on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in California on June 28, 2023, is demanding answers and transparency into the case and the events that unfolded leading up to her discovery. The girl was reported missing on June 13, after running away from home as reported by Hoodline San Diego at the time.
It took nearly 18 days for the girl to be found, and her family believes she was trafficked and raped by a Marine at Camp Pendleton. A Marine was taken into custody for questioning by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), but he was released back to his unit while the investigation continued.
The girl's aunt, Cassandra Perez, has spoken out demanding justice, arguing that statutory rape is a crime that has yet to be addressed in this case as reported by ABC 10News. The family has launched a digital awareness campaign called Justice for Native Kids, and a petition has garnered almost 10,000 signatures so far according to FOX 5 San Diego.
When the girl was found, she was questioned without the consent of her family, which has led to concerns about the handling of the investigation. According to the Los Angeles Times, the family is also troubled by the lack of a military protective order (MPO) being issued, which would reveal the Marine's identity to them .
So far, no charges have been filed, and the Marine's identity has not been released, further increasing the family's frustration. The girl, who was under the guardianship of her grandmother, has also yet to reveal the name of the Marine, according to FOX 5 San Diego. The family insists that there is no way the Marine could claim she appeared to be an adult, as according to their account, she is unmistakably a child.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is conducting an investigation related to sex trafficking, and NCIS, Camp Pendleton, and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force are all working on an active and ongoing investigation, the Los Angeles Times reports.
