Two amber alerts cancelled for two different teens who were kidnapped by men they met online

NORTH CAROLINA — Not one, but two North Carolina amber alerts this week ended in human trafficking arrests. Police say both of the girls at the center of the amber alerts were found after being kidnapped by older men they met online.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, or SBI, announced Friday that a Thursday amber alert for a 15-year-old Siler City, NC girl was canceled. Officers said they found the girl in Asheboro, NC with one of her suspected captors. Investigators released two arrest photos Friday of Ronny Suarez and Saul Ramirez Guvara, the men who were believed to have kidnapped the teen. An SBI officer confirmed the teen met and communicated with the men online before she was abducted. The officer could not say which social media or messaging app was used to communicate.

Ronny Suarez

Saul Ramirez Guvara 

SBI confirmed it caught Suarez with the young girl in Asheboro, about 20-miles away from her home in Siler City. Guvara was found at a Quality Inn in Kinston, NC according to investigators. Both men have been charged with first degree kidnapping, human trafficking of a child victim, solicit child by computer, among several other charges.

Another amber alert went out on Tuesday for a different 15-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Harnett County. Police said the teen was taken outside of her home in Spring Lake, NC by two men who have since been identified as 31-year-old Elihue Martin Mahler of Virginia Beach, VA and 23-year-old Austyn Lee Cole of Kitty Hawk, NC.

Elihue Martin Mahler

Austyn Lee Cole

An SBI officer explained that the men drove the girl to Kitty Hawk first, and then all the way to Virgina Beach, before they returned back to Kitty Hawk with the teenage girl. Investigators said they found the men at a residence in Kitty Hawk on Thursday. The teenage girl was said to be safely recovered. SBI did confirm that the teenage girl messaged the men online prior to her abduction. It was not confirmed which social media or messaging app was used to communicate.

Mahler and Cole now both face charges on felony human trafficking of a child victim, felony kidnapping, felony conspiracy to kidnap, and felony conspiracy, human trafficking. The two men are each under $5-million bond. Mahler and Cole individually faced a Harnett County Judge Friday morning. Mahler chose to represent himself in court and told a judge, “Nothing that’s been spoke so far is the truth. All of this is fabricated, it’s straight lies.”

Cole was less vocal than Mahler during his court appearance, but did tell a judge, “I was not planning on doing anything.”

SBI emphasized that the two cases this week are not connected in anyway, but did acknowledge that they are similar. Both teens met these men online, something Melanie Jackson with the North Carolina based non-profit Compassion To Act, warns parents to be aware of. Compassion To Act works to combat human trafficking in the state.  Jackson urges parents to talk to their children about the dangers of meeting strangers online. “If you’re not willing to talk to your kids about pornography… human trafficking, all of it, they’re going to find someone who will talk to them,” Jackson said.

The non-profit said that educating children and monitoring their internet use can protect them from the dangers of human trafficking.