A Texas father is being credited with saving his teenage daughter after she was abducted at knifepoint on Christmas Day, according to authorities.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a home around 4:50 p.m. after a 15-year-old girl failed to return from walking her dog. Concern quickly escalated when her father used parental tracking tools connected to her cellphone and detected the device in a remote, wooded location roughly two miles from their home.
The sheriff’s office said the father immediately drove to the area, where he located a maroon pickup truck. Inside were his daughter, her dog, and an adult male who was partially unclothed. Officials said the father managed to get his daughter out of the vehicle and safely return home, where law enforcement was contacted.
Investigators later determined the suspect had threatened the teen with a knife during the incident. Based on witness information and vehicle descriptions, deputies identified the driver as 23-year-old Giovanni Rosales Espinoza.
Espinoza was arrested without resistance and now faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated kidnapping and indecency with a child. He remains in the Montgomery County Jail without bond as the investigation continues.
Local CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the teen is recovering with her family. Relatives told the station they did not know the suspect and expressed deep gratitude that she was found alive.
Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle condemned the crime, saying Christmas should be a time of happiness, not fear. He praised both the father’s decisive actions and the rapid response of deputies who helped ensure the suspect was quickly taken into custody.
