On the evening of June 24th, Vernal City Police Officers were flagged down by a male individual who reported his 15-year-old son as missing. “Utilizing a cell phone location-tracking app, officers identified the juvenile’s possible location at an apartment complex within the city,” shares Vernal PD. “Officers responded to the complex and began canvassing the area. The juvenile was located and had been inside one of the apartments. The juvenile reported that they had been sexually assaulted in the apartment. Contact was made with the adult male at the location, later identified as 34-year-old Jose Torres.” Following an investigation, Jose Torres was arrested and booked into jail on charges including Forcible Sodomy, Aggravated Kidnapping, Obstruction of Justice and Providing False Personal Information to Police. “We encourage parents and guardians to consider using location-tracking tools on their children’s mobile devices, which can be extremely helpful in emergency situations,” shares Vernal PD. “Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation and in consideration of the juvenile’s privacy, no further information will be released at this time.”
