Police seek information after 2 girls reportedly taken from South Dakota

DENVER (KDVR) — A welfare check on Monday morning turned into an ongoing investigation by the Ault Police Department after a girl told the agency she had been left in the town after being taken without her consent from South Dakota.

It all started for police at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday. An officer was dispatched to conduct a welfare check just north of town on U.S. 85, according to a press release from the Ault Police Department. A girl told the officer that she had been taken from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, by two males and left in Ault.

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The girl told police the pair left her behind after an argument in a parking lot located in the 200 block of U.S. 85 in Ault. She said during the argument, one of the males pointed an AR-15-style rifle at her head and assaulted her with it.

She told officers that her juvenile friend was still being held by the males, whose ages were not immediately released by police. Police investigators learned the vehicle traveled to Fort Collins after the Ault incident.

A multi-state investigation was launched to locate the second juvenile, who was thought to still be with the reportedly armed and dangerous suspects. With help from the Nebraska State Police, both suspects were located along with the second juvenile within five hours of the nationwide search initiation.

Both suspects were taken into custody in Nebraska on multiple charges. The Ault Police Department filed arrest warrants for crimes committed within the Weld County jurisdiction.

Ault police are looking for more information related to this case. Anyone who saw a red Volkswagen Beetle with a tan convertible top in Ault between the hours of 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, witnessed any of the incidents described above or saw the vehicle anywhere else within Northern Colorado is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Shippy.

The car pictured above is not the suspect vehicle but is similar. The suspect vehicle has a South Dakota license plate of 44MSB4.

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Anyone with information and who has not spoken with detectives on this incident or anyone in the area who may have security camera footage of the incident is asked to call the Weld County Regional Communications Center at 970-356-1212 and request to speak with Ault Detective Sergeant Shippy.

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