A 13-year-old girl who disappeared after meeting a man online has been located alive hidden in a container inside his residence, with indications of sexual assault, as per officials.
Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, has been charged with human trafficking, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and corruption of a child after being apprehended in Pittsburgh, US, on Thursday. The teenager, from Baker, Louisiana, went missing on 20 October subsequent to connecting with Crumity via social media.
He is among three men arrested in a multi-agency investigation across state boundaries, according to The Guardian. Louisiana’s attorney general, Liz Murrill, stated, “This child… was manipulated, exploited, and subsequently sexually abused by strangers she encountered online.” She further highlighted the hazards of social media and human trafficking.
Following intel from federal agents, law enforcement officers located the girl confined in a box covered with a sheet in his basement, an extensive distance away from her home. She was promptly transported to a hospital, where proof of sexual assault was gathered, reported by local news outlet WTAE.
As outlined in a criminal complaint, the child informed investigators that she communicated with Crumity on Snapchat. Allegedly, he assured her assistance in securing adoption by a trustworthy adult. The teen mentioned traveling to Pittsburgh via a Greyhound bus and, upon reaching Crumity’s residence, they slept in the basement on a bed alongside a third individual, a woman, according to the complaint.
The girl stated that Crumity provided her with edibles containing cannabis and repeatedly sexually assaulted her for nearly a week, as per WTAE.
She indicated that he cautioned her about potential consequences due to her status as a runaway. The child expressed to authorities that the hospital environment made her feel the safest, as per the complaint. Crumity purportedly confessed to engaging in sexual activities with the victim, as reported by PEOPLE.
“On October 30, 2025, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Special Victims Unit received a report from United States Marshals indicating a juvenile female from Louisiana present at an address on Davis Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood,” local officials stated in a press release.
Another individual, Ronald Smith, aged 62, has also been arrested in connection with the girl’s disappearance. Smith and another man, Alvin Hanson, purportedly transported her from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Georgia before putting her on a northbound bus.
Smith faces accusations of simple kidnapping and contributing to juvenile delinquency, while Hanson, 64, has been arrested for contributing to juvenile delinquency, as stated by Brian Fair of the US marshals service.
Investigators anticipate additional arrests in the ongoing investigation. WAFB, a Louisiana news outlet, cited officials mentioning a man and woman from the Washington DC area were present in Crumity’s basement during the girl’s rescue.