FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — A Fayetteville 16-year-old girl was found on Christmas Day by deputies after she was reportedly lured across state lines and taken to Kentucky.
Zackary Jones, 34, had been in communication with the teen through Facebook, where he claimed he was age 19, according to Lincoln County, Kentucky, Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Luster. She was reported missing on Dec. 8 to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to Jones’ home after receiving a call from his mother, Luster said. She called to report an altercation between her son, Zackary, and “his girlfriend.” When deputies arrived in the 1400 block of Robertstown Road in the Kings Mountain area of Kentucky, they found Jones and his mother, but no one else.
Jones lied to deputies, saying she was not there, Luster said.
Luster said as deputies looked around the home for her, cocaine was found. Jones attempted to quickly dispose of the drugs in a wood stove found in his bedroom. After that, deputies arrested him and placed him in a cruiser.
Upon returning to the home to further search for the female he had been in the reported fight with, deputies discovered a trap door hidden under a rug in Jones’ bedroom, the sheriff’s office confirmed.
The female found was identified as the same 16-year-old girl reported missing on Dec. 8 in Fayetteville.
As she was interviewed, the girl told deputies Jones had picked her up in North Carolina and brought her to Kentucky. Since his arrest, deputies said Jones has admitted to doing drugs with her and having a sexual relationship with her. Deputies said she appeared “very high” at the time she was found.
In addition to drugs being found, deputies said a weapon was seized after Jones had reportedly told the teen multiple times that he would “take a 22-pistol and kill her.”
In Kentucky, Jones is facing 10 third-degree charges of rape and another 10 third-degree charges of sodomy. He is also charged with using an electronic device to entice and lure a minor across state lines.
Further charges for Jones are for assault, strangulation, unlawful transaction with a minor (illegal sex act), unlawful transaction with a minor (illegal controlled substance), possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), and resisting arrest.
CBS 17 spoke with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office to ask about charges Jones may be facing in North Carolina. As of Thursday at 4 p.m., no charges are pending.
