Rookie cops nab wanted man; find missing teen
MONTESANO, Wash. -- Two Washington State Patrol troopers fresh out of the academy have located a 14-year-old Tecumseh, Okla. girl and the 41-year-old man Oklahoma investigators believe she left with more than a month ago.
The Washington State Patrol says troopers arrested 41 year-old James Joseph Reimer at about 3 p.m. Saturday after stopping him for routine traffic violations in Montesano.
With him was the missing teen, who was safe and being interviewed by detectives, the patrol said in a news release.
A standard driver's check on Reimer revealed he had a $100,000 felony warrant in Oklahoma for soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology. He is accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to the girl's cellular phone.
Reimer was being held in the Grays Harbor County Jail. It wasn't immediately known why Reimer traveled with the girl to Washington state, the patrol said.
A family friend, Reimer knew the girl for several years before they disappeared Feb. 2.
A segment on her disappearance was aired recently on "America's Most Wanted."
The State Patrol says the two troopers had just graduated from the academy on Feb. 1.
"We always encourage our troopers to look beyond the traffic stop," WSP Chief John Batiste said in a statement. "Today we have arrested a man accused of luring a teenage girl for sex, and removed her from that terrible environment."
The Washington State Patrol says troopers arrested 41 year-old James Joseph Reimer at about 3 p.m. Saturday after stopping him for routine traffic violations in Montesano.
With him was the missing teen, who was safe and being interviewed by detectives, the patrol said in a news release.
A standard driver's check on Reimer revealed he had a $100,000 felony warrant in Oklahoma for soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology. He is accused of sending sexually explicit text messages to the girl's cellular phone.
Reimer was being held in the Grays Harbor County Jail. It wasn't immediately known why Reimer traveled with the girl to Washington state, the patrol said.
A family friend, Reimer knew the girl for several years before they disappeared Feb. 2.
A segment on her disappearance was aired recently on "America's Most Wanted."
The State Patrol says the two troopers had just graduated from the academy on Feb. 1.
"We always encourage our troopers to look beyond the traffic stop," WSP Chief John Batiste said in a statement. "Today we have arrested a man accused of luring a teenage girl for sex, and removed her from that terrible environment."