LUBBOCK, Texas — The ping ponged. A 15-year-old girl who was the subject of Texas and Kansas Amber Alerts has been found safe in Texas and the 28-year-old man she was with was busted. The Nacogdoches County, Texas, Sheriff’s office said Nomei Velazquez was found Wednesday was found in a motel room near the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock. The Kansas Amber Alert was issued early Wednesday morning after Texas authorities told the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that the teen’s cell phone pinged in the Kansas City area. Several area law officers spent early Wednesday morning searching the Melvern and Lawrence areas after spotting a car matching the description of the Amber Alert along I-35 southwest of Ottawa. However, the KBI said that Texas authorities later said the ping report was an error and actually indicated the phone was in Lubbock. The suspect in her disappearance, Juan Fabian Arenas Delacruz, 28, was arrested at a nearby job site near the motel.
Thursday, Feb. 27, 6 a.m.
