A missing 14-year-old girl who was found in Camp Pendleton barracks may have met Marine on Tinder, according to a report. The girl's family says she was raped and the victim of sex trafficking.
The missing 14-year-girl who was found inside barracks at Camp Pendleton may have met the Marine who brought her on base through the dating app Tinder, according to a report.
Military.com, citing investigation records, said the girl and the Marine said they met on Tinder on June 26, and that she, the Marine and a friend of his drove onto the base on June 27, where she stayed overnight in his room.
Military police discovered the girl June 28 inside the room of a Marine with the Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group, at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County, authorities said.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is leading an investigation into the incident, assisted by the San Diego Sheriff's Department and its Human Trafficking Task Force, federal authorities said.
A spokesman for the NCIS confirmed to Inside Edition Digital on Tuesday that no charges have been filed in connection with the investigation.
"Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation remains ongoing. As always, NCIS is committed to fully investigating any allegation of criminal behavior that threatens Department of the Navy readiness," spokesman Jeff Houston said.
The Military.com report said the Marine acknowledged having sex with the girl in his barracks, and said the girl was not asked for identification when they stopped at a security checkpoint to enter the base.
The girl's grandmother reported her missing on June 13, authorities said. Her family has said she was "sold" to the Marine by a sex trafficker.
“She was found in the barracks by military police. She had been sold to a soldier for sex,” Casaundra Perez said in a TikTok video about the case. The woman said the girl has learning disabilities. Perez identified herself as the girl's aunt.
The San Diego Sheriff's Department and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force are assisting the investigation.
The girl told military investigators she had been kept locked up by a pimp and only knew the man's first name, according to the report.
Military investigators are looking for evidence to support the girl's claims, the report said.
Few details about the incident have been publicly released, including the child's whereabouts from the time she disappeared. Her family said the girl had run away before, but always quickly returned, authorities said.
Inside Edition Digital reached out Wednesday to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for comment on the report, but has not heard back.
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