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ICE joins nationwide manhunt for undocumented immigrants suspected of raping teenage sisters

Law enforcement found one suspect hiding under a bed in Texas a week after the assault

Chris Riotta
New York
Friday 06 July 2018 18:46 BST
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Suspect in teen rape and kidnap case captured in Texas

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) joined a nationwide manhunt for two alleged undocumented immigrants accused of kidnapping and raping teenage sisters at an Ohio hotel.

Police believe they caught one of the four men who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old and 14-year-old on Thursday, when they found David Ramos Contreras hiding under a bed in Lubbock, Texas.

Mr Contreras, an undocumented immigrant who was deported from the country last year, will now be extradited to Ohio, where he faces rape and kidnapping charges.

Another suspect, 24-year-old Simon Juan Thomas, has already been arrested by the Ohio Bowling Green police department and is being held on a $50,000 bond. Local law enforcement believes the two suspects still at-large, who have been identified as Arnulfo Roberts and Juan Garcia Rios Adiel, are also living in the country illegally.

“Based on the crime that they're accused of we would consider them violent offenders so they would be dangerous,” Dan Manusco, an Ohio lieutenant, told CBS News. ”They had fraudulent immigration paperwork or identifications.”

The men were staying at the same Days Inn as the teenage girls, who were at the hotel with their mother and stepfather, on the night of the assault.

Police are also searching for two women who were seen on surveillance camera footage with Mr Contreras at a Wal-Mart in Ohio. Investigators said the suspect received a ride from the women on June 30, just three days after the assault took place.

In a statement to local news outlet WTOL, Bowling Green Police Major Justin White said his department is working to stay “objective” throughout the investigation.

“You know, these are 13 and 14 year old girls and they are your daughters, so it's very difficult,” He said. “As officers we need to stay objective to investigate the case. However, a lot of us have children.

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