Three arrested after California girl, 14, is found hiding in closet in home where she slept under a TRAPDOOR after she went missing more than a week ago
- Kaylee Arney, 14, who had been missing for more than a week was found Friday in a home where she stayed under a hidden trapdoor on a dirt floor
- She was reported missing on October 22 after she vanished following a visit to a friend’s home in West Point, California
- On Friday detectives conducted a second search at the home where she was last seen and located her hiding behind clothes deep in a closet
- A further search found a trapdoor hidden under carpeting in the home that led to a dirt floor covered with bedding where officers found Kaylee’s phone
- Officials say she is in good health and did not require medical attention
- Isaiah Haggard, 20; Annie Pearl Abernathy, 41; and Jose Tinocopureco, 34, were arrested in the case
A 14-year-old California girl who was missing for more than a week has been found hiding behind clothes in a closet in a home where she stayed under a hidden trapdoor and slept on a dirt floor, officials say.
Kaylee Arney was located by Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office detectives on Friday around 7pm at a residence in West Point. When detectives found her she was hiding behind some hanging clothes.
Officials say she is in good health and did not require medical attention.
Kaylee had gone missing more than a week ago after she visited a friend’s home in West Point.
The teen had been given permission to spend a few nights at the home, but when her mother went to pick her up she was told that her daughter had left before she arrived.
Kaylee Arney, 14, who had been missing for more than a week was found Friday in a West Point, California home where she stayed under a hidden trapdoor on a dirt floor
The detectives then searched the property with a warrant and found the child ‘deep within the corners of two adjoining closets’. The closet where she was found above
A view of the trapdoor under carpeting in the home leading to a dirt floor under the residence
The trapdoor was covered by carpeting in the home
Her parents then notified the Sheriff’s Office on October 22. At the time of her disappearance, she was considered a voluntary or at-will missing person and a possible runaway juvenile.
After more than a week of investigation detectives obtained new information and obtained a warrant to search the home where Kaylee was last seen.
Though the home was previously searched, the second visit Friday led to the discovery of Kaylee.
When deputies arrived they were met by the occupants on the front yard of the home. They insisted that the girl was not there and they knew nothing, claiming they last saw her walking down the driveway of the home.
The detectives then searched the property with a warrant and found the child ‘deep within the corners of two adjoining closets’.
Kaylee had gone missing more than a week ago after she visited a friend’s home in West Point. The teen had been given permission to spend a few nights at the home, but when her mother went to pick her up she was told that her daughter had left before she arrived. Officials say she is in good health and did not require medical attention
Police found blankets and bedding in the makeshift sleeping area under the trapdoor and they also found Kaylee’s cellphone there
Bedding found under the trapdoor where she slept above
When they searched further they found a hidden trapdoor that led to a makeshift sleeping area on the dirt floor under the home, where cops found her phone and bedding on the ground.
In the investigation deputies searched the girl’s social media, spoke with her friends, canvassed neighborhoods and searched areas around the home where she was last known to be located.
Three people were arrested in connection the girl’s disappearance.
West Point residents Isaiah Haggard, 20, and Annie Pearl Abernathy, 41, were arrested on charges including providing false information to a peace officer, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and felony child endangerment.
Jose Tinocopureco, also of West Point, 34, was arrested on suspicion of providing false information to a peace officer and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Officials say Haggard deliberately distorted facts and made false statements about his involvement in Kaylee’s disappearance, which listed him originally as not a suspect.
Haggard and Abernathy are being held on $100,000 bail each.
Tinocopureco was booked and released with a citation for the misdemeanor charges.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected.