SACATON, Ariz. — A 17-year-old Gila River teen has been found after being missing in Iowa for 11 days, according to the Gila River Police Department.
Liliana Munguía left Bapchule, Arizona, on the Gila River Indian Community and flew to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet a 20-year-old she met online, Gila River police say. The department and the FBI immediately began searching for her, along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Iowa.
On Friday, Munguía was found in Ankney, Iowa, and 20-year-old Malachi Reed was taken into custody by the FBI, police said. Officials did not say if she was injured but did say she was "safe."
“The quick response and coordinated efforts of all agencies involved reaffirm our mutual commitment to addressing the nationwide Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons epidemic. I am grateful for my staff and our partner agencies for their dedication in locating and bringing Liliana home safely,” said Gila River Police Chief Jesse Crabtree.
Juan Munguía, her father, drove to Iowa to search for her as soon as he found out that is where she went, he previously told 12News.
He isn't sure how she met Reed or how long they had been in communication.
“She spoke to them and she's been speaking to them for quite some time and she must have made plans with them, or I can't, I can't imagine what headspace she was in, but she ended up boarding a plane in Mesa, Arizona, and she made her way out to Iowa," Juan Munguía said.
The Gila River Police Department thanked several agencies who helped in the search, including:
- Gila River Police Department
- Gila River Crime Victims Services
- Phoenix FBI Field Office
- FBI Omaha Field Office Des Moines Resident Agency
- Bureau of Indian Affairs MMIP Task Force
- Bureau of Indian Affairs Phoenix Division
- Arizona Department of Public Safety Intel
- Ankeny (Iowa) Police Department
- Des Moines (Iowa) Police Department
- Clive (Iowa) Police Department
- Iowa State Gang Task Force
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