A teen reported missing earlier this month out of North Carolina was found on Christmas Day, hidden under a trap door in a Kentucky man’s home, according to multiple reports.
Authorities found the 16-year-old girl after a woman called police to report that her 34-year-old son, Zackary Jones, had an “altercation” with “his girlfriend,” WTVQ reported.
“They were arguing, yelling and screaming,” Jones’ mother, Rhonda Jones, told WRAL. “It’s probably the hardest thing I had to do.”
Authorities responded to Zackary Jones’ home in Lincoln County and found the 34-year-old, who said that his “girlfriend” wasn’t there, according to WKYT. As he took deputies through the house, authorities saw drug paraphernalia that Jones tried to grab to dispose of in a wood stove in his bedroom, the news station reported. Deputies restrained him and put him in the back of a cruiser before continuing their search.
Authorities found the teenager under a trap door that was hidden by a rug in Zackary Jones’ bedroom, WTVQ reported.
The girl had been reported missing weeks earlier out of Fayetteville, North Carolina. She had met Zackary Jones online, where he had claimed to be 19, according to WDKY-TV and WTVQ.
Their first in-person meeting happened in North Carolina, where Zackary Jones told the girl that he was 25, according to WDKY. After traveling to Kentucky and meeting his family, the teen learned that he was actually 34, the news station reported.
The girl told authorities that he threatened to kill her several times and told her to tell everyone she was 18, according to WDKY.
Rhonda Jones told WRAL that she didn’t realize that the girl was underage.
“I asked him how old she was. He said, ‘she’s 19.’ So, I took that as the truth,” she said. “I believed him, because a lot of girls looked older than they are.”
Zackary Jones faces several charges, including first-degree unlawful imprisonment, first-degree strangulation and third-degree rape. He was booked into Pulaski County Detention Center on Christmas Day, WDKY reported.
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