Missing girl, 16, rescued from secret basement beneath trapdoor hidden under rug in man’s bedroom
A MISSING girl was rescued after cops allegedly found her beneath a trapdoor under a rug in a man’s bedroom.
Zackary Jones, 34, has been arrested after he allegedly raped and assaulted the 16-year-old victim.
The youngster vanished from her home in North Carolina earlier this month.
She was rescued on Christmas Day after Jones’ mother called the cops about a row between her son and his “girlfriend,” WTVQ reported.
Officers raced to the Kentucky house and were shown through by Jones who insisted there was no girl there.
Officers spotted drugs paraphernalia littering the property which they said Jones made a halfhearted attempt to discard by throwing it into a wooden stove.
They were quick to cuff him and bundle him into the back of a police car before continuing their search.
The victim was found by officers when they spotted a rug placed over a trap door in Jones bedroom, according to local outlets.
Officers said the girl was “very high” when they located her in the hidden basement.
The victim told the sheriff’s office that Jones sexually assaulted her and that the two used crack cocaine together, according to the arrest citation obtained by WCNC.
The victim also said Jones strangled her and threatened to shoot her.
The sheriff’s office said Jones admitted to having sex with the teen numerous times and having her perform sex acts on him.
Jones denied choking the teenager, but officers said she had visible marks on her neck.
When Jones first made contact with the girl, he claimed he was only 19, the victim said.
But once she arrived at his house, she found out his real age and Jones threatened her and forced her to tell his family she was 18, the citation alleges.
Jones’ mother, Rhonda Jones, said: “I asked him how old she was. He said, ‘She’s 19.’ So, I took that as the truth,” She also said the girl didn’t appear to be held against her will, according to WRAL-TV.
Jones told WKYT-TV from jail that the girl beneath the trapdoor as according to him “she hid on her own free will.”
The defendant also said he used a computer to lure the teenager and made contact two to three weeks before driving to Fayetteville to pick her up.
The girl’s grandfather said he didn’t think Jones had good intentions when he picked up his granddaughter.
“I don’t think he was rescuing anyone. I think he was trying to find another person to victimise,” he said.
The teen said that while driving back from North Carolina the pair were stopped by a cop for a traffic violation and Jones allegedly said he would shoot the officer if they were asked to get out of the car.
Jones admitted to deputies that he had sex with the teen after picking her up from her home, according to the citation.
Jones is facing charges of rape, sodomy, assault, strangulation, unlawful imprisonment, terroristic threatening, unlawful transaction with a minor and various drug-related counts, according to reports.
He could face more charges as the investigation continues, including in North Carolina.