Technology has had its vices in the past but not in the case of a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Northern California, who according to reports, used Snapchat to share her location with her friends, who then called the police.
The girl met Albert Thomas Vasquez, 55, in Capitola on Tuesday, the San Jose Police Department said in statement.
Thomas Vasquez drugged the girl and she became incapacitated, police said. He called two other suspect — Antonio Quirino Salvador and Hediberto Gonzalez Avarenga — to help move the girl in their vehicle.
Vasquez then sexually assaulted the girl in the vehicle, police said. The men drove the girl to a motel in San Jose, where they carried her to a room on the second floor and Vasquez sexually assaulted her for the second time, police said.
While in the hotel, the girl used the Snapchat app on her phone to tell her friends that she had been kidnapped, but didn’t know where she was, police said. Her friends determined her location through the app and called the police.
Once police arrived, they found Vasquez leaving the motel room with the girl inside. He was arrested on charges of kidnapping to commit rape, digital penetration with a child under 14 with force, false imprisonment, lewd act with a child and rape by intoxication or controlled substance.
The two other men — Salvador and Avarenga — were arrested Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, police said.
Snapchat is a social media app that allows users to communicate with others through instant pictures and videos. Friends on the app can choose to share their locations with one another if the app is open, according to Snapchat developers.
CNN has not been able to determine whether the men have attorneys.
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