Police rescue teen after accused kidnapper drives her 70 miles, California cops say

A man has been arrested after California authorities say they tracked a kidnapped teen roughly 70 miles from where she was abducted.

Chance Willis, 42, is accused of kidnapping a teen girl in Moreno Valley, according to an Oct. 15 news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Officials said the girl is a minor but withheld additional details, including her exact age, while the investigation is underway.

The Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a call about a kidnapping at around 7:15 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Officials say the teen girl met Willis, then he “coerced her to travel to the city of Gardena against her will.”

Gardena is a city in Los Angeles County about 70 miles west of where authorities identified the abduction site.

Moreno Valley deputies tracked the girl to Gardena and provided her location to the Gardena Police Department, according to the release.

Gardena police responded to the scene and rescued the teen, deputies said. Police located Willis as well, and Gardena officers detained him until the Moreno Valley investigators took over.

Willis was arrested shortly after 3 p.m., about eight hours after deputies responded to the report of the kidnapping, jail records show.

Willis was charged with kidnapping and transported to the Robert Presley Detention Center, where deputies said he is being held “in lieu of $250,000 bail.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2023 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Police rescue teen after accused kidnapper drives her 70 miles, California cops say."