A Marine was in custody after authorities found a 14-year-old girl in the barracks of a California base in late June who had run away from her grandparents’ home earlier in the month, according to reports.
Melissa Aquino of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department first confirmed the news to NBC San Diego, saying the 14-year-old girl’s grandmother reported her missing four days after her initial disappearance June 9. Aquino said the girl had run away from home before but “always returned home quickly.”
The girl’s information was entered into multiple missing person databases, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The girl was found June 28 by military police at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California. Neither the girl nor the Marine have been publicly identified.
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Capt. Charles Palmer, director of communications strategy and operations for the 1st Marine Logistics Group, told NBC the Marine was held for questioning June 28 by Naval Criminal Investigative Services, a military law enforcement agency. Palmer said the Marine has not been formally charged and remains in the custody of his command.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force are supporting NCIS with the investigation.
The sheriff’s department said the teen has been returned to her grandmother, CNN reported.