A 14-year-old girl who was found at Camp Pendleton two weeks after she went missing was allegedly raped by a Marine on the military base, her family said.
According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the girl was reported missing by her grandmother on June 13.
A deputy responded to the grandmother’s home on the same day to take a missing person report, the department said.
The grandmother allegedly told the deputy that her granddaughter ran away on June 9.
A video posted on TikTok by the girl’s aunt claims that the girl, who is Native American and has a learning disability, disappeared from her home on June 10 and wasn’t found until June 27 at Camp Pendleton, located in Oceanside, north of San Diego.
At the time of her disappearance, the girl’s information was entered into missing person databases which informed other law enforcement agencies of her disappearance.
Military police at Camp Pendleton said the girl was found on June 28 and upon her discovery, the sheriff’s department was immediately informed. Detectives interviewed the girl before she was returned to her grandmother.
“She was found in the barracks by military police,” the girl’s aunt, Casaundra Perez, said in the TikTok video. “She had been sold to a soldier for sex.”
A Marine spokesperson confirmed that a Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 5 was taken into custody by the Naval Criminal Investigative Services for questioning the day after the girl was found. The Marine is on active duty and assigned to the battalion at Camp Pendleton.
Perez claims that the military is trying to “cover up” the incident. An Instagram post by an account called @notinregz, which posts content shared by military personnel, shows an unidentified Marine in handcuffs being escorted by military police.
The post included what was said to be a handwritten logbook from Camp Pendleton that mentions the discovery of the girl on the base on June 28, however, the authenticity of the logbook could not be verified.
So far, no identities have been released as the case remains under investigation.
“This command takes this matter and all allegations very seriously,” said a Marine spokesperson. “The incident is under investigation, and we will continue to cooperate with NCIS and appropriate authorities.”
Since Camp Pendleton is federal property, the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) is handling the investigation, according to reports from KSWB. Officials said the sheriff’s department and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force are supporting NCIS with the investigation.
It is unknown whether the Marine taken into custody has been released.
