Mexican 17-year-old girl rescued from human trafficker in California after texting ‘911’ for help

In a press release, Detective Chris Dyer said the girl had been trafficked out of Mexico about two months ago. She sent a plea for help to “911” in Spanish which was able to be translated to English.

“The victim did not know where they were but were able to identify landmarks and other identifiable information,” he added. “Simultaneously as the call taker was engaging with the victim, other members of the communications center team were successful in giving real-time information to deputies responding to the search.”

It took the deputies about 20 minutes of searching the Casitas Springs area before they located the girl. On Monday, Cruze was arraigned on charges of Human Trafficking, Forcible Rape, Lewd Acts Upon a Child, Luring, and Sexual Penetration with Force. He remains in custody on 500,000 bail.

Detective Dyer told the Ventura County Star that they are still investigating how she got to the United States from Mexico. "We don't know the specific route that she traveled, but we know it was through illegal means to get up here from Mexico,” he said.

"We're still kind of putting together how she got here," Dyer added. "She came through a couple of different people and a couple of different locations.”

Authorities noted that the girl is in the care of Ventura County Child Family Services until they can reunite her with her family.

Police are asking anyone who may be a victim of human trafficking or suspect someone may be running an operation to call local law enforcement or Crime stoppers at (800)222-8477. They note that more information about human tracking and how to spot it can be found at www.polarisproject.org.