Five men accused in disappearance of Indiana teen charged in Macon County
MACON COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Five men who were described as illegal aliens in court documents have been charged with felonies in a missing child investigation from Indiana.
Carlos Funez, Marlon Aguilar and Daniel Ruiz Lopez, all of Honduras, and Arturo Eustaquio and Noe Guzman Hernandez, both of the country of Mexico, were all charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child in Macon County.
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers arrested all five men at 2:27 a.m. Monday, June 17, the probable cause statement says. Court records indicate they are being held without bond. They were initially held on a 24-hour hold. They all appeared in court on Friday. Court records say Funez pleaded not-guilty, but plea information for the remaining accused men was not available.
A bond review set for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27 for Aguilar, Ruiz Lopez, Guzman Hernandez, Eustaquio; while Funez’s bond review is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday, July 1.
The probable cause statements say the men were trafficking the girl to California.
According to the probable cause statement, arresting troopers received information about a runaway juvenile from Indiana around 1:50 a.m. June 17. Troopers were told by a sheriff’s office in Indiana that the department was pinging the 14-year-old girl’s cell phone and that her father allegedly saw her leaving in a black SUV that was possibly a Chevrolet Terrain, the statement says.
The father of the girl reported her missing to the Logansport, Indiana, Police Department. The probable cause statement does not state which day the child went missing. The girl’s cellphone was allegedly pinged, or traced to, a vehicle that was traveling westbound on Highway 36 near Hannibal, the statement says.
Troopers received a phone call from the Shelbina, Missouri, Police Department, who stated an officer saw a black Dodge Durango with Texas plates slow down when the driver saw police.
The Indiana Sheriff’s Office – whose name is redacted in court documents – traced the vehicle while it was traveling through Clarence, Missouri at 2:11 a.m., the statement says. About six minutes later, Missouri law enforcement pulled the vehicle over and saw a young girl in one of the rows of the vehicle, the statement says.
Law enforcement asked the girl what her name was, and her reply matched the name of the missing girl. The girl was brought to a Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle and the men were arrested.
