5 men arrested and charged with kidnapping after missing Indiana teenager found in Missouri

NOTE: Mugshots of all five men were requested, but were not available at the time of publication.

CASS COUNTY, Ind. – Police in northeast Missouri have arrested five men accused of kidnapping a teenage Cass County girl.

According to court documents, Missouri State Highway Patrol officers were notified shortly before 2 a.m. on June 17 that an active search was underway for a 14-year-old girl reported missing from Cass County.

The girl’s father reportedly observed the young girl getting into a vehicle, later determined to be a black Dodge Durango with an unknown license plate. The father contacted Logansport police and reported his daughter missing.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office then notified officers that the missing girl’s cell phone had been beeped by a suspicious vehicle with Texas registration traveling west on US 36 near Hannibal, Missouri.

A short time later, an officer spotted an SUV matching the description and initiated a traffic stop in Macon County, Missouri. During the stop, the officer reportedly noticed a girl in the back seat of the vehicle who identified herself as the missing teen. The officer then removed the teen and placed her in the patrol vehicle.

The officer, with assistance from the Macon Sheriff’s Office, arrested the following men:

• Marlon Aguilar from Honduras
• Arturo Eustaquio from Mexico
• Noe Guzman Hernandez from Mexico
• Daniel Ruiz Lopez from Mexico
• Carlos Funez from Honduras

All five were taken to the Macon County Jail and charged with child abduction and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to court documents, authorities believe the men took the young girl to California.