5 men charged with kidnapping after missing Indiana teen found in northeast Missouri

MACON COUNTY, Mo. (KTVO) – Five men were arrested Monday morning in northeast Missouri after a teenage girl was reported missing from her home in Indiana.

The suspects are accused of kidnapping the 14-year-old.

The teen's father had last seen her getting into a black SUV and reported her missing to Indiana police.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Monday, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers were notified that the girl's cell phone was heading west on U.S. Highway 36. Shortly afterward, a state police sergeant Shelbina saw a black SUV with Texas license plates heading west.

Just before 2:30 a.m., a trooper saw an SUV matching the description and initiated a traffic stop in Macon County.

The officer looked into the vehicle and saw a juvenile in the backseat. She identified herself as the missing teenager.

With the assistance of the Macon County Sheriff's Office and Macon Police, the trooper arrested the following men:

• Marlon Aguilar, 44, from Honduras
• Arturo Eustaquio, 41, from Mexico
• Noe Guzman Hernandez, 24, from Mexico
• Daniel Ruiz Lopez, 19, from Honduras
• Carlos Funez, 56, from Honduras

Authorities believe they were taking the girl to California, where she was to meet a stranger she met online.

All five men were formally charged with one count of second-degree kidnapping, a class D felony, and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, also a class D felony.