Dearborn Heights teen found; 62-year-old man arrested - 'I believe she was scared'

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A 16-year-old girl missing for nearly a month is safe and a 62-year-old man she was found with is in custody, Dearborn Heights police said Thursday.

Producer note: FOX 2 is no longer naming the teenager as it is believed she is a victim of a crime.

Timeline:

She was recovered in the area of Inkster and Warren Avenue on Wednesday, according to Chief Ahmed Haidar, who said the man provided a home and financial means. She is now with Child Protective Services, while the older man - who was a stranger - is awaiting charges.

The girl was taken to Children's Hospital for a sexual assault kit test, the results have not been received yet. Haidar said it appeared she was allowed to walk freely in the house and had access to her phone.

She went missing on March 14 when she left Vista Maria, a juvenile center that troubled children stay at. She was later seen at Beech Daly and Joy roads on March 17.

"It could be sexual, it could be consensual. It could have been forced upon her," he said. "I mean, look at the optics. You have a (62-year-old) man who's got a 16-year-old girl in his home. I mean, does it sound consensual?"

Haidar said a teen under the age of 18 cannot consent.

"I believe she was scared and didn't leave," he said. "It's hard because you sit here and wonder, we've been looking for you for almost three weeks," he said. "You know you had a phone, you never reached out. What were you promised, what were you scared of? That's what we're going to find out."

Police are looking into whether the teen may have been sex-trafficked or made contact with two johns.  One of them has been identified and is in his mid-30s and the other is unknown. Haidar said police will be questioning her about it.

Haidar said it appeared that the girl had been with the 62-year-old man since March 17 and the two had no history of knowing each other.

During the initial search, police previously questioned the man who was in the area about the girl's whereabouts and allegedly denied knowing anything.

"The disturbing thing about this individual is when we first received tips that she could have possibly been in this area, we received a tip that said they saw her last in this area near a car wash," Haidar said. "Our detectives from Dearborn Heights went out to that location, and we're canvassing in the area talking to different people. He is one of the individuals that we did speak to at the time who denied seeing her.

"He is one of the individuals that we spoke to that would not give us information on her whereabouts."

Haidar said that a wishlist was found inside the house written by her saying she wanted to move out of state, get a job, get a car, and mentioned a possible boyfriend she wanted to meet up with again.

"It wasn't like she was tied up in the basement and anything like that," he said. "You know, there's times where they went out in public, got in the car together, drove to Meijers, drove to a restaurant to eat."

Dig deeper:

Vista Maria, which provides a home for at-risk youth, is requesting a sit-down with police to talk about the girl's escape - which is a common occurrence, the chief said.

Haidar said there is "no way" the girl is going to be returned to Vista Maria where there are ongoing investigations going on involving staff members and other juveniles at the location.

He added she may have run away from Vista Maria to get away from someone.

"Without me getting too much into it, there's a possibility," he said.

According to the chief the suspect is not talking to police and has 'lawyered up."

It appears they met randomly in the area of Joy Road and Inkster road, Haidar said, at an establishment.

"We believe that she was just, a young lady that was walking the streets that had no money, had nowhere to go," Haidar said. "And she came across this man and this man provided all services for her."

Note: The police chief originally identified the suspect as 65 years old. He later corrected the age to 62, and the story has been updated to reflect that.