Runaway 14-year-old twin sisters who were reported missing in Detroit were recovered after a month.
Police body camera video from Monday morning shows the moments the juveniles were found at a hotel in Allen Park, Michigan, with a man who has a criminal past. They were found after a woman in Nebraska reported a stolen debit card to police and the hotel where her card was charged.
"I swear for about a week, I've been telling them something bad would happen on Monday," Megan McQuain said.
McQuain, from Omaha, Nebraska, was right. Sunday night and Monday morning, her daughter Abigale received unexpected text messages on her cellphone that connected the family in Nebraska to a Comfort Inn hotel in Allen Park.
"I was very concerned and confused," Abigale said. "I was on the phone with my boyfriend. And my boyfriend said, 'Go tell your mom.'"
Around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Abigale received a text from her bank, which was one of many showing that her debit card was used at several hotels including one in Allen Park. Her mother immediately called the hotel and law enforcement.
"It's after midnight at this point and as I'm doing a police report with our officer, I got a call from the detective that they had the man in custody that had taken my daughter's debit card information,'" said McQuain.
But what unfolded next in Allen Park made everyone's heart stop.
Police body camera video shows moments when officers find teens at hotel:
Allen Park Police Department Officer James Vanderaa recognized the two teenagers who were found in a 30-year-old man's hotel room.
"I know who you guys are, I know who is looking for you and we will have to solve this tonight," Vanderaa told the girls.
The 14-year-old twins ran away on March 8 while visiting their grandmother.
The twins were reunited with their father right away. The suspect, Marcus Peoples, has been charged with computer crime, credit card fraud and harboring runaway children.
"I was shocked," Abigale said. "It turned out to be so much more. I thought it was just a stolen debit card."
The investigation is ongoing as to how the teens connected with the suspect and how the suspect acquired Abigale's debit card information.
Meanwhile, in a statement to Scripps News Detroit, Allen Park Police Department Chief Christopher Egan said:
"I am extremely proud of these officers, professionalism, and tenacity to follow through on a case working as a team that allowed them to observe these missing girls. Their quick actions may have prevented a more serious situation."
This story was originally published by Faraz Javed and Brandon Speagle at Scripps News Detroit.
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