Video sheds new light on how trafficking victim was taken from American Airlines Center

The 15-year-old girl who was taken from a Dallas Mavericks game in April and later found in an Oklahoma City hotel being prostituted had a passing interaction with a man suspected of being involved during the second quarter, according to a news release from the attorney representing the girl and her family.

During the second quarter of the Mavericks game at American Airlines Center in Dallas, the girl got up to go to the bathroom, according to the release. Surveillance video provided to the attorney with Fortenberry Firm PLLC showed the girl speak to a man on the concourse while they were passing each other and then rush to catch up with and follow him.

The man, who along with two others used a valid ticket to get into the American Airlines Center and then was escorted to a suite for which they did not have tickets by a former Dallas Mavericks employee, walked out of the building with the girl and spent about an hour walking around outside the center with her before leaving, according to the release. Zeke Fortenberry, who is representing the family, said in the release there is no evidence the man and girl had any prior communication.

The 15-year-old was found 10 days later at an Extended Stay America hotel where she was being prostituted, according to Fortenberry. His law firm said in a previous email to the American Airlines Center, Dallas police and the hotel that they failed the victim and her family.

The father got up from his seat at the game at halftime to look for his daughter, according to the release. He told an American Airlines Center employee he was unable to find her, and employees and security, including off-duty law enforcement, looked for her until 10:45 p.m., at which point they told the father his daughter wasn’t in the building.

Fortenberry said previously that Dallas police refused to investigate the incident and that the American Airlines Center and Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City failed to protect the 15-year-old from her traffickers. The release refers to the man who she left with as a “person of interest.”

Oklahoma City police found that she was being held at an Extended Stay America hotel and made arrests and recovered the girl, who is from North Richland Hills, on April 18. Eight people were arrested on charges including human trafficking, distribution of child pornography and rape.

Fortenberry said there were multiple steps along the way that could have prevented the incident.

He said the man that lured the teenage girl from the game found her in an area inside the center for which he did not have a valid ticket, and that the fraudulent ticket the man had was provided by an individual known to the Dallas Mavericks and American Airlines Center as a seller of fraudulent tickets.

“The Dallas Mavericks and the AAC failed to protect the victim from the man with the illegal ticket in a restricted area,” Fortenberry said in the letter sent previously to the three entities.

In a WFAA-TV report, Dallas police said the arena was searched, and shared this about protocol for these situations: “Texas Family Code (51.03 b. 3) dictates that missing juveniles are investigated as runaways unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction. Those cases per code are to be filed where the juvenile resides.”

Dallas police told WFAA that they assisted North Richland Hills police, who entered the victim into a national missing person database, and created a bulletin that went out to the department on April 11.

Fortenberry is investigating what happened on the behalf of the family and is asking anybody who knows the identities of the men who were in the suite or anybody who may have been involved in the abduction to contact his law firm at 469-626-7373.

In Friday’s release, Fortenberry thanked American Airlines Center for allowing him to view the video.

“The victim’s family is thankful to the American Airlines Center (AAC) and the Dallas Mavericks for their assistance in helping them better understand what happened to their 15-year-old daughter on the evening of April 8, 2022,” the release said. “They appreciate the AAC and Dallas Mavericks’ willingness to cooperate with law enforcement in any criminal investigations.”