Isabel Gallego, who went missing from Sacramento earlier this year at age 17, has been found after police in Portland, Oregon, took the man she was allegedly with into custody.
The Sacramento Police Department made the announcement Thursday night just after 8 p.m. and offered few details about Gallego’s condition or how she was found. Police in a social media post said, in part, that she was “located safely and plans are being set to reunite her with her family.”
Gallego, now 18, was reported missing in April. Police said at the time that she was believed to be with Kyree Jackson, 25.
The Portland Police Bureau “located Kyree and arrested him for his warrant,” the post by Sacramento police said.
Police did not specify what charges Jackson could face or how he was involved in Gallego’s disappearance. Two warrants in Sacramento County indicate he was wanted for felony charges of illegal possession of a firearm and theft of a motor vehicle.
Gallego, a high school senior in an independent study program at the time, had last been seen by her parents the night of April 19. Her mother, Julie Gallego, said the teen left her phone in her room and only had a backpack with her.
In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, Julie Gallego described Isabel as “very creative” and that she frequently changed hair colors; it was reportedly green when she went missing. Isabel was also active in Sacramento’s punk rock scene, her mother said.
“This was just not in her plan,” Julie Gallego told The Bee.
Sacramento Superior Court records indicate Jackson skipped out pretrial proceedings in his criminal case and that he had tampered with his court-issued ankle-monitoring device, rendering it disabled.
Julie Gallego said her daughter met Jackson about two weeks before she went missing and that the teen’s friends knew Jackson as “a pimp.” The mother also said her daughter is very trusting of people, which she said was “probably her downfall.”
After Isabel Gallego left Sacramento, she was reportedly tracked to Portland before being spotted in Seattle, according to police. She was considered at-risk due to her age, and Sacramento Police Department spokesperson Officer Anthony Gamble said investigators believed her to be a victim of human trafficking.
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