A 14-year-old girl declared missing two weeks ago has been found at Camp Pendleton in California by the United States Marine Corps. While her family claims she was sold to a Marine there, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has yet to confirm whether or not a crime has been committed as it continues its investigation.
According to the family, the teen first went missing on June 13th after she ran away from her grandmother's house. On June 28th, after two weeks of searching, she was located at Camp Pendleton and NCIS took an unnamed Marine into custody the same day for questioning.
Since then, various social media posts have shown the Marine in question being led away from the base in handcuffs. Captain Chuck Palmer of the Marines confirmed that one of their personnel was taken into custody but stated that the Marine has not been charged with a crime as of yet.
The unnamed 14-year-old's aunt, Casaundra Perez, has recently taken to the internet in an attempt to bring justice for her niece. In her emotional video, she made claims that her missing niece has learning disabilities, and was sold to the U.S. Marine in question.
In her video, she also accused the military of attempting to carry out a cover-up and not wanting the news of what happened to her niece to become public. She adds the fact that the girl is underage and unable to give legal consent, makes this whole situation far more serious and requires attention. In her conclusion, she warned her family will likely face retribution.
This revelation has only been the tip of the iceberg, as the NCIS continues its investigation into the particulars of the case. What we do know is that the unnamed Marine has been questioned but has yet to be charged with a crime.
One spokesperson stated, "Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS does not comment on, confirm details relating to, or confirm the existence of ongoing investigations."
It will still be some time before all the facts are available, but we can just hope that justice is served for the missing teen, and her family gets the answers they deserve.