Girl, 11, found in another country 5 months after vanishing in US
A girl missing for months after allegedly being abducted by her dad has been found alive with him in a foreign country.
Sophie Long, 11, went missing from Guadalupe, in the US state of California, on July 12 after she was allegedly abducted by her non-custodial 42-year-old father, Michael Long.
Sophie went viral in 2020 after her dad launched a campaign which included harrowing videos of the then 10-year-old claiming she was in distress and did not want to visit her mum, Kelly, who Long shares three children with.
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Sunday (local time) Sophie and her dad had been found alive in a foreign country.
But they did not say which country it was. Authorities believed at one stage Long had taken his daughter to Mexico or Argentina.
Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said in a statement police were “so happy Sophie is safe”.
Sophie is in protective custody as police work to extradite her dad back to Collin County in the US state of Texas.
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Court documents obtained by Fox News paint a different picture to the videos that went viral, with claims Long coached his children about how to respond to questions and did not send them to school.
He allegedly took them to the doctor claiming they were sexually abused, but no signs were found that this was true.
A spokesperson for Sophie’s mum, who denied the allegations made by Long, said her ex-husband’s vendetta against her had “escalated to dangerous levels”.
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