Zackary Jones, 34, was arrested on Christmas and faces a slew of charges with more to be expected.
A Kentucky man has been arrested and is facing a variety of charges after a missing teenager from North Carolina was found hidden in a trap door inside the suspect’s home, according to reports.
Zackary Jones, 34, was arrested on Christmas after his mother called 911 because she said there was reportedly an altercation been her son and his “girlfriend,” according to WKYT.
When officers arrived at the home, cops say Jones told them the female was not in the house, according to WKYT.
Cops searched the home and they said they could see drug paraphernalia with residue in plain view, WKYT reported. Police said Jones grabbed the contraband, tried to dispose of it in a wood stove in his bedroom, and was arrested, WSOC-TV reported.
Police reentered the home and searched for the female, discovering a trap door under a rug in one of the bedrooms. When they opened it, a 16-year-old from North Carolina who was reported missing on December 6 was found inside, according to WSOC-TV.
“Mr. Jones had told them that she had fled the scene. After doing some investigation, they realized she was there and there was a room cut out in the floor that you access through the floor and it was covered with a rug. That is where the juvenile was located at,” Lincoln County Sheriff Shawn Hines said in a statement.
The teenager told police that Jones sexually assaulted her, and the two had been using crack cocaine and marijuana, New York Post reported. Jones had allegedly driven to North Carolina to pick the 16-year-old up after communicating with her online, WKYT reported.
When Jones first made contact with the girl, he claimed he was only 19, the victim said, according to New York Post.
However, when they reached his home, she discovered out his real age and Jones allegedly threatened her and forced her to tell his family she was 18, a police citation alleges, New York Post reported.
Deputies say the minor appeared to be “very high” at the time they found her, according to WKYT.
Jones allegedly admitted to doing drugs with the teen and having a sexual relationship with her, WKYT reported.
Jones has been charged with assault, strangulation, two counts of unlawful transaction with a minor, resisting arrest, unlawful imprisonment, drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, rape, sodomy, use of a minor in a sexual transaction by electronic means, and terroristic threatening.
More charges could be expected in both Kentucky as well as North Carolina.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the Lincoln County Courts and Lincoln County Attorney for more information and has not heard back.
It is unknown if Jones has entered a plea or obtained legal representation.
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