‘Just a little girl:’ Dad of missing 12-year-old reacts after she’s found safe nearly 2 months later

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — The father of a 12-year-old girl who went missing from Gainesville said he was glad to learn she is safe tonight after vanishing nearly eight weeks ago.

Maria was found Thursday night with a 34-year-old man in Dover, Ohio nine hours from her home. Investigators have determined that Maria met Antonio Agustin online and he drove to Georgia to abduct her.

On Friday, Maria’s father, Andres Gomez, said he’s prayed day and night for his little girl’s safe return.

“I didn’t think I was going to find her again,” Gomez said through a translator. “Many times, I thought that she was dead.”

Deputies said that last week, someone claiming to be Maria sent her father a Facebook message telling him to stop searching for her and that she wasn’t coming home. Detectives tracked computers and phones to Agustin and eventually to a swimming pool in Dover. From there, they tracked Maria and Agustin to a shopping center, where they rescued Maria and arrested Agustin.

“She’s 12 years old. She’s a little girl,” Gomez said. “She has a life in front of her. She wants to study. She wants to go to school.”

Investigators said Agustin communicated with Maria online for a long time before deciding to abduct her.

Gomez is worried he may have hurt more children. Investigators are looking into Agustin’s background to see if anyone else is at risk.

Child Services is now working with Maria to determine what is best for her.

Agustin will face charges in both Ohio and in Hall County.

Gomez thanked the community, who rallied around him to help keep the pressure on investigators to find his daughter.