
A friend of the family used Snapchat to track down the missing Georgia teen.
Georgia authorities have confirmed that missing Amber Austin was found safe on Wednesday. The Sheriff’s Department credits the finding and rescue of 15-year-old missing Georgia teen to a friend of the family. The woman discovered a picture of Amber posted on her Snapchat account earlier that day.
Missing Georgia Teen Abducted by Ex-Con Posing as Woman
According to the Amber Austin’s case report, the 15-year-old went missing around Saturday from her grandmother’s Gordon County home. The authorities believe that the teenager might have been in contact with an individual over Snapchat. Later, it was confirmed that 34-year-old Dayton Koop, Austin’s kidnapper, posed as a woman while chatting with the teen and enticed her into meeting him.
It’s not yet clear whether Austin went to Koop’s home or if the kidnapper picked her up from the teen’s grandmother’s house. On Wednesday morning, Dakota Moss, a 27-year-old Gordon County woman and close friend to Austin’s family, saw that Amber posted a new picture on her Snapchat account.
The woman beseeched Amber’s family to seize this opportunity to find the missing Georgia teen. Moss told the reporters that after she drove to the man’s home, she saw Koop running to the back of his house. Amber’s friend promptly called the Sheriff’s Department who managed to track down and apprehend the suspect. The missing Georgia teen was later discovered in Koop’s SUV.
She didn’t appear to be injured, only scared. Koop was taken into custody and charged with kidnapping and unruliness with a minor.
Conclusion
According to the Sheriff’s Department, the suspect has an extensive criminal record, having been accused of breaking into a home in 2011 and raping a woman. Following a brief trial, which ended with a protection order, Koop was allowed to walk a free man out of the courtroom.
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