A little girl from Texas who was reported missing months ago was located in a foreign country and will be returned to the United States, authorities announced.
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office said Sophie Long is in protective custody after being reported missing amid concerns she was kidnapped by her father, Michael Long, who was taken into police custody, Fox News reported Saturday.
The sheriff’s office made the announcement in a social media post on Saturday:
Press Release – 12.11.21
For Immediate Release:
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office confirms that Sophie Long has been located in a foreign country and is in protective custody. Arrangements are being made for her safe return to her family in the United States. pic.twitter.com/sdR0milSaj— Collin Co. Sheriff (@CollinCoSO) December 11, 2021
“Michael Long is in custody on a felony warrant for Interference with Child Custody. The United States government is working on the extradition of Long back to Collin County, Texas,” the post read.
Authorities did not identify the country where Sophie was located.
Missing 11-year-old Sophie Long is set to be returned home to Collin County after she was found in a foreign country. Her non-custodial father, Michael Long, was taken into custody.
Posted by FOX 4 News on Saturday, December 11, 2021
“Many months of determined work by my deputies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals paid off this morning. We are so happy that Sophie is safe,” Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner commented.
Long previously said he did not wish to return Sophie to her mother’s family in July once she accused her mother’s fiancé of sexual abuse, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
“Sophie was at the center of a bitter custody dispute between her dad, mother Kelly Long, and her aunt, who she was sent to live with in May. She was last seen on July 12 in Seguin, northeast of San Antonio, before being found,” the Mail report continued:
Michael, 43, was due to show up at a court in McKinney, Texas, in August for a hearing over a motion that could send him to jail for almost three years.
But he told DailyMail.com, in an exclusive interview that took place the day before the warrant was issued, that the only way he will return to court and bring his daughter home is if he is allowed to put his case before a jury.
His former wife, Kelly Long, went against the jury trial in a motion and requested Long be jailed for 18 months and another year on a count of hiding the child and another for not giving her up.
“I’d absolutely go to jail to protect Sophie. I’d do anything for her. She’s a 10-year-old child,” Michael Long told Daily Mail.
The child’s story drew attention in August 2020 when a video reportedly showing her upset during a custody hand over went viral online.
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