A 16-year-old girl from Boise, Idaho, who went missing has been located in Houston, leading to the arrest of a 24-year-old man on charges of kidnapping and suspected human trafficking. Ruben Dario Visquerra Aguilar now faces serious allegations after Boise police, collaborating with the Houston Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit, found the teen at his residence on the northwest side of Houston.
Boise Police first received a report of the missing teen last Thursday. Following up on leads, they discovered the girl had been communicating with an unknown person online. In their efforts to safely recover her, law enforcement was able to trace her movements across state lines, starting from eastern Idaho, moving to Utah, and finally arriving in Texas. Boise Police, as well as the Special Victim's Unit, “Boise Police officers and Special Victim’s Unit detectives worked diligently with the victim’s friends and family to investigate all leads and coordinate with law enforcement in multiple states to track down information leading to the safe recovery of the teen victim,” Boise Police's Special Victim’s Unit Lieutenant Josiah Ransom expressed, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
Aguilar, who remains in custody, has been charged with first-degree kidnapping and human sex trafficking of a child by Idaho authorities and is also charged with harboring a runaway in Harris County. An ICE hold keeps him detained while federal charges are also being considered. His family, in remarks given outside their home, claimed they were unaware of the girl's status as a runaway and believed her to be an adult. They stated Aguilar had met the teen on Facebook, and he had paid about $2,000 to someone for her transportation from Boise to Houston, as reported by a Click2Houston article.
The investigation led by Boise Police revealed crucial social media interactions that played a part in her discovery. However, according to Caroline Roberts of Children at Risk, in a statement obtained by Click2Houston, the term "runaway" may need reconsideration, stating “They are not running away of their own accord outside of influence. They are running away because they were groomed and manipulated by someone that is a predator.” The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 2,373 signals of human trafficking from Texas last year, highlighting the magnitude of this issue in the state.
The teen, found with hickeys visible on her neck, was subsequently taken to a hospital for evaluation, and a sexual assault investigation is also being conducted. As per the Boise Police statement featured in the Houston Chronicle, the girl is receiving support services and is expected to be brought home.
