Police release disturbing detail after teenager found safe years after vanishing
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A teenage girl who was finally found safe years after she was reported missing from her home had been abducted, police have now confirmed as new details about the case have emerged.
Joniah Walker, who is now 19, was rescued hundreds of miles from her Milwaukee home in the US after being found in Blacksburg, Virginia, on May 23.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Walker was just 15-years-old when she was reported missing in June 2022 with a major police manhunt launched to find her and multiple public appeals shared.
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The Blacksburg Police Department later charged 37-year-old Owen Lars Anderson in connection with her disappearance. A police statement revealed that officers had responded to a report of a 'domestic disturbance' at a property on May 23 and that enquiries revealed the woman inside was a juvenile that had been reported missing in Wisconsin, later identified as Joniah.
According to the Daily Mail, a criminal complaint claimed the teenager met up with Walker at a cinema in Chicago when she was abducted and that the pair had met on social media when the victim was 12-years-old.
After convincing Joniah to meet him, it was reported that Anderson arranged an Uber to pick her up from her family home to take her to the movie theatre. It is from there that he is said to have abducted her and disposed of her mobile phone before holding her captive for four years and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.
The parents Walker previously said they knew her switched off mobile was the key clue that their daughter was in danger back in 2022 when she first vanished. She was later found 730 miles away from her home.
In 2023, Tanesha Howard, Joniah’s mother, issued a public appeal and said: “Joniah if you’re watching, I’m smiling through my tears and pain, I miss you. We all miss you."
Police reports state that on Monday (27 July), Anderson was charged with abduction and immoral acts with a juvenile, strangulation, child abuse and preventing a 911 call.
Criminal complaint documents are said to have stated officers from the local police department responded to the 911 call of an alleged domestic disturbance at Anderson's home, which was when Walker then bravely disclosed she had been reported as missing and was being held against her will.
It was claimed by the victim that Anderson had lured her to the cinema with fake promises of offering her a better life and convinced her to leave, before driving her to his house in a rental car. The complaint also alleged that she was sexually, physically and verbally abused while captive.
According to WDBJ7, the FBI has also taken over the digital evidence in the investigation after a collection of electronic devices, flash drives, journals and other evidence were also retrieved, with Anderson also facing 55 counts of child sexual abuse material possession.
What police said
A previous statement issued by the Blacksburg Police Department read: "On May 23, 2026, Officers of the Blacksburg Police Department responded to a single family residence in the Town of Blacksburg for a domestic disturbance.
"During the course of this investigation officers were able to provide transport for the reporting party to a local resource center. Further investigation into this incident lead officers to discover that the reporting party was reported missing as a juvenile out of Wisconsin. Detectives from the Blacksburg Police Department continued the investigation which lead to executing a search warrant at the same address.
"Charges of abduction and immoral acts with a juvenile, strangulation, child abuse, and preventing a 911 call were placed against Owen Lars Anderson of Blacksburg. Additional charges are pending as the investigation continues in this case."
Meanwhile, Police Chief John Clair for the department previously said: “This suspect not only committed significant crimes against the victim, but he was also prepared for violence.
“The investigation and everything happening with it is incredibly big and complex. Now we have stakeholders from Milwaukee, stakeholders here, stakeholders with the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
"This is why we never stop searching"
After Walker was reported as missing, public appeals were shared across US news outlets. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also shared regular social media appeals to raise awareness of the case.
Announcing the teenager being found, John Bischoff, Vice President of the Missing Children Division said: "Every time a missing child is found safe, it reminds us why we never stop searching.
"Cases like Joniah's are a testament to persistence. They also serve as a reminder to families still searching that hope doesn't have an expiration date. Thank you to everyone who helped keep Joniah's story in the public eye."
LADBible has contacted the Blacksburg Police Department for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
And, if you've affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Topics: US News, Crime, World News
James Holt