A kidnapped 6-year-old girl was rescued in a routine traffic stop in Kansas more than a month after going missing, and two men with her were arrested, police said Saturday.
State troopers pulled over an SUV for an unspecified traffic violation, Kansas Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post. They spotted two men in their 60s in the front of the vehicle and a young girl in the back.
Neither the suspects nor the girl have been publicly identified. Police said that was to protect the girl’s privacy and the “integrity of open cases.”
Cops quickly learned the adult passenger was wanted in another state for kidnapping a 6-year-old girl more than a month earlier, state police said. Given the presence of a young girl in the back seat, troopers removed both men from the vehicle and spoke with the girl.
Initially, the girl gave troopers a false name and age, which police said she had been told to do by the kidnappers.
“Ultimately, our trooper calmed the girl down and got her to tell him her real name,” Kansas Highway Patrol said. “She was the kidnapping victim, who had been with this suspect for over a month on the run.”
The girl had been reported missing but was not physically harmed. Both men were arrested; the driver also had a previous criminal history that included homicide and weapons crimes, according to police.
The incident happened back in February but was not publicized until Saturday, according to Wichita CBS affiliate KWCH.