12-Year-Old Girl Found With 34-Year-Old Guatemalan National Two Months After Going Missing

A 12-year-old girl, from Hall County, Georgia, was found safe almost 2 months after she had gone missing.

A suspect has now been taken into custody.

Fox5Atlanta reported that the girl was discovered in Dover, Ohio, on Thursday.

Maria Gomez-Perez had last been observed on May 29 at her residence in Gainesville, Georgia. Officials had looked all over the country for her in states such as South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and others.

Now, it is said that Gomez-Perez was located at a shopping center with Antonio Agustin, a 34-year-old male from Guatemala.

Officials said that after traveling to Georgia to pick up Gomez-Perez at her home on May 29, the two had been in Ohio.

Authorities were first alerted of her whereabouts after the 12-year-old reached out to her father through Facebook Messenger via a new account. She had indicated that she was fine, and he shouldn’t search for her.

After using the IP address linked to the messages, investigators were able to locate that phone in Ohio.

Then, this week, officials went to Ohio and saw Gomez-Perez at a city swimming pool. They were able to retrieve her after Agustin was taken into custody when he had driven the pair to a Walmart in a community close by.

The 12-year-old was transported to a child advocacy facility and then to a medical facility for a wellness review.

She was then transported back to Georgia to be with her relatives.

Agustin is in custody, with no bond in Ohio, for felony interference. However, several felony charges, and possible deportation, are still pending.

He is expected to be transported back to Georgia next week.