COLUMBUS, Texas — Police are still searching for a Houston man who was found in Columbus, Texas with a missing 12-year-old Missouri City girl last month.
Columbus, Texas is about an hour and a half west of the girl's home.
According to court documents, Sirterryon Preston, 27, is now charged with felony smuggling.
The girl had been posing as a 19-year-old on the dating app Tagged asking guys to pick her up. When the child went missing in late February, investigators started tracking her tablet's location, which is how they found her in Columbus.
According to court documents, Preston had picked up the girl from a McDonald’s and gave her a ride even though he knew she had been reported missing.
The girl was last seen Thursday, Feb. 22, and reported missing on Friday, Feb. 23. She was captured on surveillance video leaving her home and walking toward a dark Dodge Ram.
An AMBER Alert was issued five days after she was reported missing because police said they received additional information they didn't get during the initial interview. The new information led them to believe she was in danger and they were concerned that she may have been a trafficking victim.