UPDATE: Brooklyn Man Charged in Case of Missing Brighton Girl

UPDATE: Brighton Police say they have an arrest in the case of a 14-year-old girl who vanished in Brighton and turned up in New York City.

Chief David Catholdi says 40-year-old Serdar Ozman of Brooklyn has been taken into custody by a U.S. Marshals Task Force, is charged with first-degree kidnapping and was arraigned this morning.

He's now in the Monroe County Jail without Bail.

Assistant DA Sara VanStrydonck says the girl and Ozman had been communicating through social mediA, and this type of thing is all too common.

Police say the girl and Ozman had been communicating for only about a week before she left home.

Original story:

Brighton police Chief David Catholdi says a developmentally disabled 14-year-old was lured away from her home through social media, and she ended up in New York City.

Zoe Houghtling was reported missing Sunday night.

She was found alone in an apartment in the Bronx.

Catholdi says authorities were able to find the phone of the person to which she was talking, and used the phone to find out where she was.

Houghtling was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

She has now been released and is returning home.

There are no arrests so far, but police call it an active investigation.


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