CHANDLER, AZ — When Chandler police rescued a missing 14-year-old Kansas girl in a hotel, public records reveal the Department of Child Safety declined to take emergency custody of the teen, instead directing police to book her into the Maricopa County Durango Juvenile Jail Facility while travel arrangements were made.
"We immediately got her the resources and where she needed to be," Chandler Police Sergeant Aaron Lowe said during an interview last month. "That was not DCS."
DCS cites policy requirements
The police report obtained through a public records request shows Chandler police asked DCS to take emergency custody of the teen, but the agency declined, citing department policies.
DCS told ABC15 "Under the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ) law, when a runaway or abducted youth is located in a state other than where they were reported missing, they must be held in a secure facility until arrangements are made for their safe return. Holding a youth in a secure facility protects them from running away again, ensures their immediate safety, and allows professionals to evaluate them for any services they may need, including possible indicators of trafficking. In Arizona, DCS does not operate secure facilities, so detention is typically used as the temporary placement option.
The Arizona Juvenile Corrections Department sent ABC15 the following information:
"The Interstate Compact for Juveniles was adopted by Arizona at ARS § 8-361, and is federal law.
The definition of a “Secure Facility” is: a facility which is approved for the holding of juveniles and is one which is either staff-secured or locked and which prohibits a juvenile in custody from leaving. This can be found in section R1-101 of the ICJ rules. The rules pertaining to out-of-state runaways are found in Section 600.
Not all out-of-state runaways will have ICJ involvement. Under R6-101, an out-of-state runaway can be released to a parent or legal guardian within the first 24 hours without applying the ICJ, unless the child has made an allegation of abuse or neglect against the parent or legal guardian.
Out-of-state runaways are most commonly taken by law enforcement to a county juvenile detention center to ensure their due process rights under ICJ are properly administered by the juvenile court. The court then determines whether the child will remain in detention or be released to DCS custody pending their return to their home state. Under R6-102, if the court determines that the child is a danger to themselves or others, the court is required to detain them in a secure facility pending their return.
In regards to your question about Mind 24/7, they are not an ADJC contracted provider, and we are not familiar with their services or capacity. "
Police choose alternative approach
Instead of sending the teen to jail, Chandler police contacted local provider Mind 24-7 to get the teen services.
"We do work closely with all our community partners to ensure that, you know, if someone is located or harmed in any way, they can count on Mind 24-7 as being a safe space. We work pretty closely with our community partners in a human sex trafficking protocol," Mind 24-7 Director of Operations Cheyenne Watson said.
Suspect indicted
Christian Caal-Mucu has been indicted in this case. The police report says he moved from Guatemala to Texas in 2017, later moving to Kansas and had only been in Arizona for about a month, allegedly taking the teen from Kansas with him.
The 23-year-old man faces serious charges after allegedly kidnapping the 14-year-old girl from Kansas and bringing her to Arizona. The girl had been missing since July 20 when authorities tracked her cell phone to an Extended Stay America hotel in Chandler.
When officers arrived at the hotel, staff confirmed Caal-Mucu was registered to room 431. Police located the missing girl alone in the hotel room.
"She made plans with the suspect to leave with him in the middle of the night without her parents' knowledge," court records said.
According to police, the girl told detectives she met Caal-Mucu about two years ago through his sister when she was babysitting the sister's child. The girl reported that Caal-Mucu's sister's husband picked her up around 2 a.m. on July 20 from her home in Kansas, and they drove to Arizona, arriving at the hotel 14 hours later.
Police later located Caal-Mucu at his workplace and brought him to the Chandler Police Department for questioning. According to court records, Caal-Mucu is a Guatemalan citizen who is in the United States illegally.
During the interview, Caal-Mucu admitted to bringing the girl to Arizona and engaging in sexual conduct with her multiple times, according to the police report.
"The state views these offenses rather seriously," prosecutors said during Caal-Mucu's initial court hearing.
Prosecutors also noted concerns about "the defendant being in the country illegally and having multiple identifications."
Through a translator, Caal-Mucu told the judge that the 14-year-old was his girlfriend.
"I'm not kidnapping anybody, and I knew what I was doing was a felony, and I discussed it with her, and I understand it's a felony, and I would like to be responsible if she ends up pregnant," Caal-Mucu said.
He claimed he was saving the girl from an abusive family, but the judge rejected that explanation.
"OK, but what you did is illegal in this country," the judge responded.
The judge ordered Caal-Mucu held on a $50,000 cash-only bond.
"We both know the age difference but just want to let you know that she is my girlfriend and I can pay the bond as well," Caal-Mucu told the court, before asking if he could pay his bond in installments.
Multi-agency collaboration
ABC15 spoke with the local sheriff's office in Kansas who had been searching for the missing girl. They declined to comment on the case to protect the young girl's identity and location, but praised the collaboration between different agencies, calling it an example of excellent investigative work.
Chandler Police Department received a call from a Kansas sheriff's office on July 31 about the missing 14-year-old girl.
"They provided information that they had a 14-year-old female juvenile that was missing from her jurisdiction. They had obtained her location via a social media account, she was showing at hotel here in Chandler," Lowe said.
Chandler PD's HEAT Unit responded to the hotel and successfully found and rescued the girl.
"When I texted the case agent, we got her, it was just a huge relief and I think everybody felt that," Lowe said.
The department's Criminal Apprehension Unit then tracked down Caal-Mucu at his place of work.
"We're talking about a 14-year-old female juvenile here and she can't provide consent to an adult male that is going to commit sex acts with her," Lowe said.
Lowe said this case had a positive outcome when many cases involving missing children don't end successfully.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
