Kidnapped Teen Rescued After Flashing 'Help Me' Sign To Passerby

A 13-year-old girl was rescued in California after being kidnapped at gunpoint in Texas. The United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said that the girl was walking down the street in San Antonio on July 6 when 61-year-old Steven Robert Sablan allegedly pulled out a gun and ordered her to get into his car.

Prosecutors said that Sablan told the girl he would take her on a cruise ship to see her friend in Australia but said she had to do something for him first.

Over the next two days, Sablan is accused of sexually assaulting the girl multiple times while driving from Texas to California. On July 9, Sablan stopped at a laundromat in Long Beach, California, to wash their clothes. While he was inside, the girl wrote "Help me" on a piece of paper and held it up to the window of the car.

A passerby saw the note and called the police. Officers arrived and took Sablan into custody.

On Thursday (July 20), a federal grand jury indicted Sablan on charges of kidnapping and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

If convicted, Sablan faces life in federal prison.