Missing 12-year-old found in accused kidnapper’s truck over 300 miles away, feds say
An Arizona mother believed a man had something to do with her daughter’s disappearance when she reported her 12-year-old was missing a few days after Christmas, according to federal court documents.
Her suspicion proved to be correct.
The girl was located days later with the man, identified as 27-year-old Liam Wallace, inside a semi-truck that was pulled over on the side of the road, in Kane County, Utah, on New Year’s Eve, a special agent with the FBI wrote in a criminal complaint filed Jan. 8.
She was more than 350 miles away from her home in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, according to the criminal complaint.
Wallace kidnapped the girl after meeting her in an online chat room meant for teens ages 13-19, she later told investigators. He engaged in sex acts with her on multiple occasions, the criminal complaint says.
The criminal complaint charges Wallace, of Phoenix, with a federal child sex trafficking offense: one count of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Information regarding his legal representation wasn’t listed in court records the morning of Jan. 10.
When deputies with the Kane County Sheriff’s Office first encountered Wallace inside his truck on Dec. 31, he said he was alone, the criminal complaint says.
Then, he told deputies he was “with his ‘lady,’” who was actually the girl, and told them she was 19, according to the criminal complaint, which says he was then arrested on state kidnapping charges.
Man introduced himself to girl’s mother before the kidnapping, feds say
The girl’s mother met Wallace before he abducted her daughter, the woman told Arizona authorities when she reported her daughter missing, the criminal complaint says.
She said that her daughter had previously run away a few times, according to the criminal complaint.
“Following one instance, Wallace returned (her) to (her) home” and introduced himself to the mother as the father of the girl’s 13-year-old boyfriend, the criminal complaint says.
This was a ruse, as she didn’t have a teenage boyfriend, the FBI special agent wrote in the criminal complaint.
The investigation
The mother was able to give investigators Wallace’s phone number, which was used to locate him after her daughter previously shared his number with her, according to the criminal complaint.
With Wallace’s phone number, investigators learned he worked as a truck driver and contacted his employer, the criminal complaint says.
When the employer began a three-way call with Wallace, while investigators were on the line, he was traveling to Salt Lake City, according to the criminal complaint.
Then Arizona investigators alerted the Kane County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office, the criminal complaint says. Kane County is near the Utah-Arizona border, about a 300-mile drive southwest from Salt Lake City.
The sheriff’s office found Wallace and the girl by using location information linked to his cellphone number, according to the criminal complaint.
After Wallace’s arrest, the girl told investigators that she met Wallace in a teen chat room and started “sneaking out almost every other night to go see (Wallace),” the criminal complaint says.
She said they engaged in sex acts several times, including at his apartment in Arizona and during a trip to Nevada, according to the complaint.
The girl also told investigators that her mother once picked her up near the California-Arizona border after Wallace had taken her to California, the criminal complaint says.
The girl reported telling her mother that she was with a teenage boy in California, according to the criminal complaint.
In Utah, Wallace faces state charges of first-degree felony child kidnapping and second-degree felony obstruction of justice, KUTV reported.
Suspected child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tipline.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Missing 12-year-old found in accused kidnapper’s truck over 300 miles away, feds say."
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