Karen Rojas, a girl kidnapped from Duarte nearly six years ago when she was just 5 years old, has been found safe in North Carolina — enrolled in school under a fake name and living more than 2,600 miles from home.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that the now 11-year-old had been taken into protective custody and is safe. Deputies located her after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services tipped off North Carolina law enforcement that she may be in the state.
Karen was first reported missing on June 2, 2020, from Duarte, a city about 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles. She had been listed as a kidnapping victim ever since, and her case was tracked by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Investigators discovered that Karen had been enrolled in Washington County Schools under an assumed name. Washington County sits about 135 miles east of Raleigh, along the Albemarle Sound. Detectives are still working to determine how she ended up more than 2,650 miles from her California home.
Multiple agencies from North Carolina and California worked together to locate her. According to ABC30, once she was confirmed to be Karen, authorities took her into protective custody.
“These are very rare occurrences to have such a positive outcome on such an old case as this, but it reminds us that through hard work, and dedication, and cooperation, stories with positive outcomes like these can happen,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
As reported by the Charlotte Observer, no arrests have been announced in connection with the kidnapping. The sheriff’s office said that due to Karen’s age and ongoing investigations, no further details are available at this time.
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