Missing Teen Found Stashed in Closet and Pregnant

teen

Police in Port Huron, Michigan, got a tip about a missing teen. She’s now 14 and has been missing for over a year. Police found her stashed in a closet and obviously pregnant. They don’t have a clue on the circumstances of how she got that way, yet. They’ll be digging into it though. The closet belonged to her allegedly non-custodial mom.

Teen girl safe with family

The unnamed teen kidnap victim recently rescued by a U.S. Marshals fugitive team on Tuesday, February 7, is safe with her biological father. She’s also getting both the counseling and prenatal care she’s been denied for far too long.

Her foster family reported her missing over a year ago and her face has been on milk cartons ever since. Her biological mother “may” be charged with kidnapping. The investigation is still ongoing, authorities note.

Police aren’t revealing specific details of who tipped them off or what the information was but it led them to a home in Port Huron, Michigan. Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert C. Watson told the press that his team “quickly found the girl after they got a warrant to search the home, roughly 60 miles outside of Detroit.

The young teen “was found in a closet hiding behind some clothes. She was visibly pregnant. She was crying. We brought her outside and reassured her she was safe.

After the paperwork gets processed, “authorities are considering potential charges of parental kidnapping and custodial interference against a suspect, the teen’s biological mother, who had lost custody of the girl.” That would be 36-year-old Kristi Gilley. While not charged with napping her own kid, so far, she is behind bars.

They arrested her with two teen companions on an out-of-state fugitive warrant. Police were alerted “after she, a 12-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy were ‘disguising their identities‘ while shopping at a Winn-Dixie.” Apparently, that seems to be another whole story in the making.

Sheriff called in the Marshals

As Watson relates, they were asked for assistance by the sheriff’s office on Tuesday because deputies learned “that the teen might be pregnant.” He packed up his crew in Ann Arbor, for the 100 mile road trip.

When they arrived at the target home, whoever answered the door wasn’t real helpful. They “were met by residents who were ‘uncooperative and untruthful‘ and who did not allow them to enter the property unless they had a search warrant.

They don’t know if Ms. Gilley was inside at the time but they did come back with a warrant for the missing teen. They had no problem convincing a judge because it “was very apparent from my experience that they were trying to conceal something, based on their body language and being very evasive.

Watson explains that usually “in cases of missing children, people bend over backwards to help us. The fact that we were getting stonewalled so blatantly bolstered our belief that she was inside.” They were back in 20 minutes.

By 5 p.m., “as Watson was interviewing one of the home’s occupants, his colleagues found the girl.” He notes “she came out of the closet, and she was pretty upset.” He went on to describe how “the teen was greeted outside the home by a Child Protective Services worker who gave her a big hug.” They whisked her off the hospital for a check up.

Later, Watson learned that the victim “is about four or five months pregnant” and “received no prenatal care while she was missing.” It’s not too bad though. “From what I’ve been told, everything appears to be a healthy pregnancy,” Watson said. “She’s getting prenatal care now, so that she’s taken care of.” She asked to be placed in the care of her biological father and they have been reunited. “His nightmare is over, and he’s been reunited with his little girl,” Watson assures. “She is doing well and I wish them all the best.

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