Nearly six years after a child was kidnapped in California, police confirmed that the missing child has been found safe in North Carolina.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said that Karen Rojas, who is now 11 years old, was found safe on Tuesday, March 10, according to ABC 7. Investigators added that she was enrolled in school under an alias.
Rojas was just 5 years old when she was kidnapped from Duarte, California, on June 2, 2020, according to a missing persons poster shared by WITN.
The search for Rojas never ended, and she was found after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services notified Washington County law enforcement that she may be in North Carolina.
The departments worked with several agencies to locate the girl. Once they found her and confirmed her identity, she was taken into protective custody.
“With the information provided to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were able to determine that the child was enrolled in Washington County Schools under an alias name,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post on March 10. “After working in combination with multiple agencies from NC to California the child was taken into protective custody, and is SAFE!”
The department went on that it was “rare” for kidnapping situations like Rojas’ to “have such a positive outcome,” especially since she was missing for such a long amount of time.
“But it reminds us that through hard work, and dedication, and cooperation. Stories with positive outcomes like these can happen,” the department continued.
The department added that an investigation into the matter is ongoing. However, police will not share any additional information about the case due to the young age of the child.
The post concluded with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office thanking “the multiple agencies from California and here in NC for the assistance and cooperation in this.”
While the case seemed to have a happy ending, there are plenty of unknowns regarding Rojas’ disappearance. It is not currently clear who kidnapped her, why they relocated to North Carolina or what Rojas knows about the situation.
Police also did not reveal if anyone was taken into custody or charged regarding the kidnapping or if there was a motive in the case.
After the Washington County Sheriff’s Office shared the update in the case via Facebook, several people took to the comments section to applaud police for their hard work in the case.
“Great job on all involved to bring this child home. Hopefully there was also an arrest made,” one person wrote. A second person commented, “Nice job, prayers for the child. Bless her heart she probably doesn’t know what to think right now. My heart hurts for her.”
Meanwhile, others expressed how happy they are that Rojas will be able to reunite with her family. “Wow. Hope she is able to be reunited with family. Great job WCSO,” a third social media user said, while another chimed in, “Can you imagine being her parents and receiving this phone call? Oh my goodness. Praise God!!”
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