Overview
- Peoria police opened a probe into a missing 15-year-old on Sept. 14 and located her in Indio, California, where Indio officers helped recover her from an area known for trafficking.
- The recovered teen identified the man she was traveling with as 32-year-old Donte Lofton Jr., who fled in a rental car when officers tried to stop him.
- Detectives entered the vehicle into an Automated License Plate Reader system and the Arizona Department of Public Safety tracked the car to Heber, Arizona, leading to Lofton’s arrest hours later.
- Authorities say a second woman in the vehicle was identified as another trafficking victim; Lofton was booked on child sex trafficking and sex trafficking charges and held on a $250,000 bond while additional California charges are pending.
- Investigators credited rapid interstate cooperation and ALPR data sharing for the rescues and arrest, and said the multiagency investigation remains active as officials pursue further charges and victim support.