Teen who went missing the Vegas MGM Grand 'NOT kidnapped'

Missing Utah teenager Sarah Dunsey 'was not kidnapped' and there is 'no evidence any crime has occurred' in Las Vegas, police have disclosed to DailyMail.com.

The 17-year-old is also said to have left the MGM Grand hotel with two men 'willingly' and without putting up any sort of struggle.

Further, sources at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they were not notified about the case until January 30 – a full two weeks after the high school student disappeared.

Dailymail.com has also learned that a missing persons report was filed to police the day after the teenager's alleged kidnapping not by her mother in St. George, as it was believed, but in Logan, where Sarah lives with her father Michael, 40, and his wife Terri, 39.

Officer Michael Rodriguez of the Las Vegas Police Department told DailyMail.com  Sarah Dunsey's mother (left) Amie Ellis  'told us that she was taken by sex traffickers. We found that not to be true.' Ellis was reunited with her daughter at a California hospital.  The two are pictured before her alleged abduction

Officer Michael Rodriguez of the Las Vegas Police Department told DailyMail.com  Sarah Dunsey's mother (left) Amie Ellis  'told us that she was taken by sex traffickers. We found that not to be true.' Ellis was reunited with her daughter at a California hospital .  The two are pictured before her alleged abuduction

Sarah was reunited with her father Michael and stepmother Terri (above) on Saturday after being rescued from 'human traffickers'

Sarah was reunited with her father Michael and stepmother Terri (above) on Saturday after being rescued from 'human traffickers'

Captain Curtis Hooley of the Logan Police Department told DailyMail.com that Sarah was reported missing on January 16. But she was due to return to Logan on January 3 after a holiday a visit to her mother's home in St. George.

'It is unclear why Sarah's parents did not discuss her whereabouts between January 3 and January 16. Captain Hooley told DailyMail.com that he is 'unsure' of the warmth of the relationship between the two.

Further inquiries made in Logan revealed that Sarah had spent time with her mother in St. George before traveling to Las Vegas with 'a male acquaintance' on or around January 14.

On January 15, Sarah visited the casino at the MGM Grand and, according to Logan police who spoke to her male friend, she was seen by her friend leaving with two others.

Pressed on whether the teenager appeared to be putting up a fight or unwilling, Captain Hooley said: 'She left with a couple of other males. She did not appear to be struggling. She didn't seem unwilling at all'.

Officer Michael Rodriguez, of the Las Vegas Police Department, said: 'Her mother told us that she was taken by sex traffickers. We found that not to be true.'

Officer Michael Rodriguez (pictured), of the Las Vegas Police Department, said: 'There was no kidnap. She was not kidnapped in Las Vegas and as far as we are concerned, there is no evidence that any crime has occurred'

Officer Michael Rodriguez (pictured), of the Las Vegas Police Department, said: 'There was no kidnap. She was not kidnapped in Las Vegas and as far as we are concerned, there is no evidence that any crime has occurred'

Sources at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they were not notified about the case until January 30 – two weeks after the high school student disappeared

Sources at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they were not notified about the case until January 30 – two weeks after the high school student disappeared

He added: 'There was no kidnap. She was not kidnapped in Las Vegas and as far as we are concerned, there is no evidence that any crime has occurred.

'Just because someone claims they were kidnapped, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true. We did not find that she was [kidnapped], although it still could be true.'

Officer Rodriguez did confirm that Sarah had been seen at the MGM Grand 'with three friends' but said the police department had been unable to review security footage from the MGM Grand because of the gap between Sarah's visit to Vegas and their receipt of a missing person's report.

POLICE TIMELINE

According to a timeline pieced together by police:

*Sarah had spent Christmas with her mother in St. George, Utah and was due to return to her father in Logan, Utah on January 3.

 *Sarah traveled to Las Vegas, on or around January 14, and was last seen at the MGM Grand on January 15.

*Her father reported her missing at Logan Police Department on January 16.

*The last person to see Sarah before last Friday was a 'male acquaintance' whom she met in St George, Utah. It was with this man that she traveled to Las Vegas - and it was he who told cops he had seen the teen leaving the MGM Grand with two other men.

*It is unclear why Sarah's parents did not discuss her whereabouts between January 3 and January 16.

*Sarah was found in Venice Beach, California on February 8.

<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->Advertisement

According to the officer, security footage taken at the hotel is automatically deleted after two weeks unless there is cause for concern.

Stan Chmielewski, a security supervisor at the MGM Grand, confirmed this to be the case and told  DailyMail.com that footage is dumped after two weeks unless there is a specific police request.

Sarah, who was until last year a student at Snow Canyon High School in St. George, Utah, vanished in Las Vegas on January 15 and was said by her mother Amie Ellis, 36, to have been taken by sex traffickers.

Her family say they mounted an investigation into her disappearance alone and without going public for fear that media reports might tip the alleged gang off to the search.

According to her stepfather Todd Ellis, 49, a 'Good Samaritan' initially helped with tips that led them to addresses in Las Vegas and San Diego, California.

But after failing to locate Sarah, they launched a social media appeal on February 5 which went viral after Ellis released an emotional video pleading for the teen's safe return on Valentine's Day.

Three days later, Sarah was discovered in an apartment in Venice Beach, California, in the company of two men whose names have not been released.

According to Todd, both were arrested but one of the pair has since been released.

Sarah was then taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and subjected to a battery of tests, including for rape and sexual assault, before being reunited with her family at 6am on Saturday morning.

Afterwards, the teenager was driven back to St George, Utah, where she was reunited with her six siblings and step siblings at the home of her mother and stepfather.

The teenager disappeared from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 15

The teenager disappeared from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 15

Sarah left her home in Utah to go to Vegas with her boyfriend. She was finally rescued a month later in Venice, California

Sarah left her home in Utah to got to Vegas with her boyfreind. She was finally rescued a month later in Venice, California

Todd Ellis (left) told DailyMail.com his stepdaughter had been spending the weekend with her boyfriend in Las Vegas when she was snatched Sarah Dunsey had been spending the weekend with her boyfriend in Las Vegas when she was snatched

Todd Ellis (left) told DailyMail.com his stepdaughter had been spending the weekend with her boyfriend in Las Vegas when she was snatched

Sarah's mother Amie (above with her stepfather Todd) appeared in the video to urge her daughter to 'fight' her kidnappers 

Sarah's mother Amie (above with her stepfather Todd) appeared in the video to urge her daughter to 'fight' her kidnappers 

A video of the reunion was released on the Help Us Find Sarah Dunsey Facebook page, accompanied by the caption: 'Sibling love. It was an emotional reunion last night!'

Yesterday, Todd told DailyMail.com that Sarah and her mother have now left the family home and are staying elsewhere, after the teenager became fearful of being found.

Todd said: 'She [Sarah] got really upset when it was reported where we live. She kept saying: 'They'll find me, they'll find me'. She is really scared.'

The family have also denied reports that Sarah was a runaway and have said they now hope the FBI investigation will produce results.

Todd added: 'People have said things like, 'she was a runaway, she meant to leave [Las Vegas]'. She didn't. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'I said to her, did you never think to try to run away [from her captors]? And she said, 'No – you don't understand. Everybody is connected and they watch and you have to be careful what you say, you have to be careful what you do.

'She doesn't remember a lot [about what happened]. She was pretty open with the police but I don't know exactly what was said and we don't know what the charges are.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share 2.1k shares

'We now have to let them [the police] do their job.'

The FBI have yet to comment on the case, despite being repeatedly approached by this website.

Officer Rodriguez told DailyMail.com that Sarah's case was turned over to the FBI 'almost as soon as we opened it' because it took place in three different states.

Captain Hooley, of the Logan Police Department, says Utah officers are also working with the FBI on the case and have turned over what information they have.

Sarah's stepbrothers wept as they were reunited at home in St George, Utah, on Saturday Sarah's stepbrothers wept as they were reunited at home in St George, Utah, on Saturday

Sarah's stepbrothers wept as they were reunited at home in St George, Utah, on Saturday


ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKBc4GPcmpvZ4Sasq951p6lrWWdnsC0tc2gZI%2Bdl5bAbpmmhmSAqpGjsW6aro1kpKGUo66xvMSdZaGsnaE%3D