The month-long search for two missing 14-year-old twins from Detroit ended at a hotel in Allen Park, where they were found with a man who now faces multiple charges, including fraud and harboring juveniles. Aniya and Anieca Ogden were located after their unexpected involvement with a stolen debit card, which a woman in Nebraska reported, led to their discovery.
"I'm talking to them (the girls). You (a man) can go to your car. You (the suspect) can go to the front desk with him (another officer)," said Allen Park Police Department Officer James Vanderaa, on bodycam footage obtained by WXYZ. Vanderaa recognized the teenagers, who ran away on March 8. Their father had reported them missing after they failed to return to their home, in the 1800 block of Robson Street. The suspect, 30-year-old Marcus Peoples, was found to have used a debit card reported stolen, to purchase the hotel room where the girls were staying.
Details on how the sisters met Peoples remain under investigation, but they told authorities they did not know him and he had simply provided them a place to stay. People claimed he received the card information from his brother and was unaware it was stolen. His bond was set at $150,000 after his arrest.
The breakthrough in the case came when Megan McQuain's daughter, Abigale from Nebraska, got an alert from her bank concerning suspicious charges on her debit card. "I swear for about a week, I've been telling them something bad would happen on Monday," Megan McQuain said, in a statement reported by WXYZ. Upon receiving multiple alerts, McQuain acted swiftly, contacting the hotel and law enforcement, which ultimately led to the twins' location and Peoples' apprehension.
Before their safe recovery, the Detroit community came together in a fervent effort to find the twins, with appeals for any information on their whereabouts. The urgency was palpable, and concerns mounted as, according to Hoodline, the police and citizens alike worked tirelessly to bring the girls home. The Chief of the Allen Park Police Department, Christopher Egan, lauded the officers' actions, saying, "Their quick actions may have prevented a more serious situation", per WXYZ.
The twins were reunited with their father soon after being found. The authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the twins' month away from home and how the suspect acquired the stolen debit card.
