A Gardnerville man is in San Joaquin County, Calif., jail on $43,000 bail after he was found early Monday in a Manteca, Calif., motel with two teenage girls reported missing from Douglas County.
Jeffrey Alan Palmer was arrested at 12:47 a.m. Monday on child abduction charges and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
San Joaquin County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Les Garcia said Tuesday the case was under investigation awaiting formal charges from the district attorney.
Garcia said after the arrest, the 13-year-old and 15-year-old girls were taken to a safe house to await their parents, but the teenagers ran away, and may have met up with a 16-year-old boy who was in the motel when Palmer was arrested.
Garcia said authorities were contacted Sunday by the parents of the 16-year-old who said their son had left their Manteca residence possibly to meet Palmer and the girls. They provided a description of Palmer's two-tone Ford Expedition with Nevada plates to authorities.
Garcia said the Douglas County Sheriff's Office was contacted and authorities provided more information about Palmer and the missing girls.
A San Joaquin deputy on routine patrol spotted the Expedition at a Manteca motel and contacted a clerk who gave them Palmer's room number.
"Mr. Palmer answered the door and the deputy observed open containers of alcohol throughout the room. Obviously the ages of the juveniles in the room was a concern," Garcia said.
He said the boy was returned to his parents and the girls taken to a safe house to await their parents, but all three ran away again.
Garcia said authorities believe the three teenagers may be on their way to Oregon or Canada.
"We believe all three are together again," he said. "Our concern is that they are listed as runaways, and we want them returned safely to their parents."
