FERNDALE, Mich. – Authorities provided an update during a news conference Friday on their investigation into the abduction of a teenager in Ferndale, who has since been safely recovered.
According to Ferndale police and the FBI, a Ferndale High School senior was abducted at gunpoint on Wednesday while at a gas station during school hours. Officials say the 16-year-old girl was pumping gas at a station on 8 Mile Road in Ferndale when a couple approached her and forced her back into her vehicle at gunpoint.
The couple, 44-year-old Kahlil Floyd and 44-year-old Jessica Quick, are accused of taking the girl to an undisclosed house, torturing her and sexually assaulting her. The girl was abducted for more than five hours.
Police were notified that the teenager was missing after her friends noticed that she did not return for class. The teen was reportedly on a break, which is common, and was allowed to leave campus because she has a car.
When they realized something was wrong, the friends called the girl’s parents, who then contacted authorities. During the news conference, Ferndale police chief Dennis Emmi says that the friends’ “instincts and their actions helped us recover (the teen) safely and find the suspects involved.”
Ferndale police, the FBI and a special task force reportedly worked together to track down the missing girl. Authorities were able successfully rescue the teen.
The couple accused of abduction are in police custody and were scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon.
Floyd, from Ferndale, is being charged with eight counts of felony firearm, eight counts of armed robbery, torture, unlawful imprisonment and criminal sex conduct. Quick, who is also from Ferndale, is being charged with aiding in a kidnapping, aiding in a robbery and unlawful imprisonment.
Officials say the couple was at the gas station and committed a “crime of opportunity” after spotting the teen.
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