Three missing Tonganoxie girls found safe; ‘person of interest’ arrested

Three sisters missing from a Tonganoxie foster home for 51 days have been found safe, police said in a Facebook post early Tuesday.

Police also said they have arrested Rigoberto “Rico” Reyes Rangel, 48, whom they were calling a “person of interest.”

Police on Monday asked for help in finding Rangel because they feared the girls, all under the age of 16, were in danger.

The three girls — Emily, 15, Aimee, 14, and Christin Utter, 12 — disappeared from their foster home Aug. 26. Their foster parents, Debbie and Terry Miller, issued an urgent plea for the girls to return home and for the community’s help finding them.

“The girls are in a bad place,” Terry Miller told The Star on Monday. “It’s very dangerous for them. My girls could get hurt.”

Miller had received a tip on Saturday that the girls might have been with Rangel, who was working for a roofing company. The tipster said the Rangel was staying in the company owner’s basement along with three girls matching the description of the missing girls.

Rangel knew the girls because he had been a neighbor of theirs at a previous residence.

Police did not release where the girls had been found. They said information available to the police was limited and asked for time for the investigation to be finalized.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 7:12 AM with the headline "Three missing Tonganoxie girls found safe; ‘person of interest’ arrested."