N.C. man arrested in connection with 12-year-olds disappearance

A North Carolina man has been charged in connection with the disappearance of a 12-year-old Baltimore County girl who was found this weekend after a multistate search, authorities said Monday.

Victor Arroyo, 32, faces first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape charges, said Assistant District Attorney Melanie Shekita of the Wake County district attorney’s office in North Carolina. He was being held in a detention center there on a $1.6 million bond, according to court records.

The girl went missing Nov. 11 after leaving her home for Perry Hall Middle School, where she is a student. FBI agents located her at a Raleigh, N.C., home Friday night, and she was returned to her family in Maryland.

Her disappearance sparked a high-profile search, and police received about 100 tips while she was missing.

Investigators say the girl had a history of communicating with men online. Digital forensics, including analysis of her iPod and Xbox activity, played a critical role in locating her, they said.

A North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement agent with the Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, which is staffed by FBI agents and other law enforcement officials, issued the warrant for Arroyo’s arrest, said a North Carolina Department of Public Safety spokeswoman, Patty McQuillan.

Baltimore County Police said Monday evening that they also have obtained an arrest warrant charging Arroyo with kidnapping.