CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 learned on Monday that two 12-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy reported missing from their homes in Charlotte for weeks are safe in Houston, Texas.
Police in Texas contacted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Monday morning to let them know all three were safe, but officials said the children will not be reunited with their families for another ten days.
Angela Perdomo, the mother of one of the 12-year-olds told Channel 9 she's counting down the minutes before she can see her daughter again.
"The first thing I am going to do when I see her is hug her. Give her the hugs I haven't gave her in all these days. Yes, they told us that they will bring her back in 10 days," said Perdomo.
Eyewitness News reported on the children's disappearances last Friday. The trio had not been seen since Sept. 4.
The 16-year old boy who was with the young girls is in a juvenile detention center in Texas. He'll also be brought back in 10 days, but there is no word on if he will face charges at this time.
His mother told Channel 9 police in Texas arrested the 18-year old man who was driving the children.
Jorge Hernandez, 18, was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, evading arrest and providing a false ID.
The children were found after police in Houston pulled over the car they were in.
“After questioning them a little more, they didn't seem to have the right answers for the officers making the stop, and they finally got the truth about who they were,” CMPD Detective Danny Hernandez said.
Their families and police had been desperate for confirmation that they were OK after someone sent our partners at Telemundo Charlotte a video of a 12-year-old girl saying she willingly left and telling her family she loves them.
Channel 9 had shown her picture, hoping someone would recognize her and help find her, but we blurred the video, not knowing what she has been through while she’s been away from her family.
Channel 9 immediately sent the unblurred version to police.
Two 12-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy disappeared from Wisteria Drive in south Charlotte on Sept. 4.
One of the mothers, Angela Perdomo, told Channel 9 that she saw all of the children that morning during school hours.
The two girls and the 16-year-old said they were grabbing a bite to eat with their 18-year-old friend.
Perdomo said she told them they should be in school at Carmel Middle School in south Charlotte, but the children ignored her and took off.
A video was sent to Telemundo Charlotte on Facebook by a man believed to be with the teens under the username “Jhon Robert.”
Minutes after Channel 9 got it, the account was deleted.
"Your mom thinks we kidnapped you," a voice said in the video.
"We wanted to come," the 12-year-old replied.
Channel 9 showed the parents the video, which was the first time they heard their children's voices in 24 days.
"They've put that all in her head to say it," Perdomo said while watching the video.
"I left because I wanted to come. My parents fight too much," the 12-year-old said in the video.
“It hurts so much because I haven't been a bad mom to her,” Perdomo said.
The 16-year-old also appears in the video and says he's fine and has started working.
The parents told Channel 9 that this isn't the typical behavior of their children and said they have never run away in the past.
The mothers said they recognize the 18-year-old’s voice in the video. They said he befriended their children over the summer.
Then, sometime on Sept. 4, they all left together, but their families didn’t know where they went or why.
"He's manipulating them,” mother Angela Sanchez said.
The other 12-year-old was not in the video, and her mother was heartbroken not knowing how she's doing.
Some of their teachers told Channel 9 off-camera that this is not typical behavior for them, that they were good students and that they're concerned about how they're doing.
Parents and investigators are asking why the man is with the children since he’s not a friend of the families and what he did to make them leave their homes.
The 12-year-olds are not even old enough to work, so their parents wonder what they are doing to make money.
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