Orange County

Orange County Amber Alert canceled after missing teen seen on video, deputies say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — UPDATE: The Amber Alert that was issued for an unidentified teen girl who was suspected of being abducted Friday morning has been canceled after deputies say she was seen on video, seemingly safe.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the newer video of the girl came from a time frame shortly before the suspect, Alexander Lopez, was captured.

OCSO detectives say they’d still like to speak to the girl to find out she was victimized in any way.

See our previous coverage below:

Orange County deputies said the teenage girl at the center of an Amber Alert is still missing after the man that was identified as her possible abductor was taken into custody Friday afternoon.

Cpl. Nikki Harper said the girl still has not been identified, but the Amber Alert is no longer active as deputies say she’s been seen on video, seemingly safe and uninjured, from a time-frame shortly before the suspect was taken into custody.

Cpl. Harper She said the man who was taken into custody, Alexander Lopez, 44, has a long, violent criminal history and is not cooperating with investigators.

Harper said deputies want anyone who knows anything about Lopez or the girl seen in the video and photos released with the Amber Alert to call 911 or 1-888-356-4774.

READ: How is an Amber Alert issued?

WATCH LIVE: Orange County deputies give live update on Amber Alert sent for missing teen

WATCH LIVE: Orange County deputies give live update on Amber Alert sent for missing teen. Watch LIVE updates on Channel 9 Eyewitness News. Read: at.wftv.com/2Y3lGjB

Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Friday, August 14, 2020

“We need to make sure that she’s OK,” Harper said.

The girl is described as approximately 16 years old, 5-foot-5-inches tall and 135 pounds with brown hair. FDLE said she was wearing a red baggy T-shirt with dark pants.

“The fact is we know nothing about her,” Harper said. “We don’t know where she is and we know she was with this person. It’s very concerning.”

Deputies said a citizen saw the 2004 gray Toyota RAV4 with Florida license plate number 504RXA described in the Amber Alert Friday afternoon in Osceola County and called law enforcement. After an authorized pursuit, Harper said Lopez crashed the car into a retention pond near Orange Blossom Trail in Orange County and tried to run away before being taken into custody.

READ: Missing child alert issued for 6-year-old girl in Pasco County

A man working in the Goldenrod gas station where the man and teen were last seen Friday morning said he called police after the pair made suspicious comments to him.

Gas station worker Robert Cruz said the girl asked to use the restroom but asked to talk to him alone first. He said the man then left the gas station without allowing the girl to talk to the worker and made reference to the girl “getting him in trouble.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted video of the possible abduction from the gas station on its Twitter account Friday.

Deputies said anyone who knows anything about Lopez or the girl to call 911 immediately.

READ: UPDATE: Police locate 11-year-old girl in Orlando


Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.