Missing Teen Safe After Homeless Hero's Tip
The Mo. teen's uncle, wanted 1,600 miles away, was arrested in a SoCal park.
Dec. 20, 2007 — -- A homeless person living in a Southern California park can take credit for finding a missing 13-year-old Missouri girl and for the arrest of her uncle who was wanted by police more than 1,600 miles away on a rape warrant.
Police in Pomona, Calif., received a call Wednesday from a parks department employee who had been approached by an unidentified homeless person expressing concern about a young teenager living with her uncle in the park, according to Pomona police spokesman Sgt. Horace Blehr. Police declined to identify the tipster.
The police found Justin Haggerman, 21, and his niece, 13-year-old Savannah Haggerman. Police checked their identities and discovered that Haggerman was wanted in Missouri on rape and parole violation warrants as well as a possible kidnap charge involving the teenager, Blehr told ABC News.
Haggerman was arrested on the outstanding warrants and is being held without bail in California pending extradition to Missouri.
The girl was placed by the California Department of Child Services into custody and authorities in Missouri were notified, Blehr said.
"Anyone can help out in the case of child welfare," Blehr said. "This is pretty observant of the transient. It speaks to this particular person's outlook for other people."
On Dec. 11, the pair took off together after an incident in Warsaw, Mo., according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office. The previous Sunday, an investigation involving Haggerman had been opened by the state's department of family services.
Haggerman's flight violated a parole warrant tied to previous burglary and assault convictions. While authorities thought Savannah may have left on her own accord, they also considered her uncle to be "violent."
The day after the two disappeared, the Benton County Sheriff's Office obtained an additional warrant from prosecutors for Haggerman's arrest on a statutory rape charge.
The FBI and Missouri State Highway Patrol both joined in the investigation to help investigate early rumors that the pair may have been heading out of state to Ohio or Iowa.
Heather Elder, the state police juvenile and missing persons liaison, said tips from the public are vital in solving cases.
"This just shows that if you see a situation and your gut tells you something might be wrong," she said, "maybe it will be nothing, but in this case it turned out to be a big something and now there's a 13-year-old on her way home."