A 22-year-old Maryland man is facing federal charges after an Amber Alert was issued for a child from Blue Springs.
William Dela Cruz is charged with enticing a minor for sex. He is currently in federal custody.
The alert was issued Sunday for a missing 12-year-old girl from Blue Springs. The girl was later found safe at a diner.
William Dela-Cruz was taken into custody by Wentzville, Missouri police. Jason Dela-Cruz, William's brother, was taken into custody in Columbus, Ohio. Police say he turned himself in. Jason Dela-Cruz has not been charged with any crime connected to the Amber Alert.
The 12-year-old's mother told 41 Action that her daughter met William Dela-Cruz while playing Onigiri, an online video game. The mom said she took all of her daughter's technology away after she noticed calls from a strange number but said her daughter ran away while she was at a concert Saturday night.
"She's usually really responsible. My son told me that she had gotten in a car with some man and she was gone," said the girl's mother.
According to a news release from prosecutors, the victim told investigators that William Dela Cruz and Jason Dela Cruz drove from Maryland to pick her up on Saturday. She said they were driving back to Maryland when the brothers started arguing. William and the victim were dropped off in Wentzville, Missouri, where they spent the night in a hotel lobby.
41 Action News was at the girl's home when FBI agents told the family the good news that the 12-year-old girl was found safe. Prosecutors say the victim and Dela Cruz were found after members of the public contacted law enforcement.
"Thanks to whoever looked out for her, from mother to mother, parent to parent. You have no idea how you've saved my family and my daughter's life," the girl's mother said.
She has a message for the two suspects who took her daughter.
"You're not human, you know. You don't do that to human beings, you don't use them as objects. You don't do that to families," the girl's mother said.
For more on how to keep your children safe online, check here.
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