An arrest has been made on Wednesday evening, in the case of a missing 13-year-old girl from Utah that disappeared from her home and was found two days later in front of a Walmart in her pajamas.
Brooklyn Gittins, went missing from her home on S. Friendship Drive in Herriman on Tuesday, January 8. She left behind her eyeglasses and was wearing no shoes. It was determined she was wearing only her pajamas and took no jacket.
Authorties and the whole Herriman community came together to search for Brooklyn in a case that made national news. She was found the following Thursday evening when Brooklyn called her grandmother and told her she was at the Walmart in South Jordan, Salt Lake police stated.
The disappearance was considered suspicious and the authorities investigated the circumstances that led to Brooklyn disappearance. On Wednesday evening they arrested Angel V. Garcia, 55, from Draper. Garcia is being charged with child kidnapping, child endangerment, and harboring a run away, reports KUTV news.
It was found that Garcia did know Brooklyn by associate through common friends. Sheriff Jim Winder stressed that Brooklyn was a "victim of kidnapping."
Investigators stated that Brooklyn climbed out of her basement window and was picked up in a car and driven to a location where she was held by Garcia against her will, for several days. Garcia dropped Brooklyn off at the Walmart in South Jordan on Thursday night, reports KUTV news.
Once her story became high profile, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder believes the person she was with drove her to the store and dropped her off, reports Deseret News.
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