Girl who vanished aged 15 then showed up safe years later was ABDUCTED and being held captive by pedophile for entire time, cops say

By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:26, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 20:31, 30 July 2026 A teenage girl who was found safe four years after she vanished from her Wisconsin home was abducted by a pedophile, police have revealed. Joniah Walker, now 19, was rescued 730 miles away from home at a residence in Blacksburg, Virginia on May 23. She had been abducted by Owen Lars Anderson on June 23, 2022 after she met up with him at a movie theatre in Chicago, Illinois, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily Mail. Anderson, now 37, and Walker met on Facebook when she was just 12 years old. The pair communicated for three years and when she was 15, he convinced her to meet him in person, authorities said. He arranged for an Uber to pick her up from her family's Milwaukee home and take her to the movie theatre.  That's where police say he kidnapped her and disposed of her cell phone, as well as a burner phone he had previously gifted to her.  He had been holding her captive, and sexually and physically abusing her at his house in the small Virginian mountain town ever since, police alleged. Anderson has been charged with kidnapping, child enticement and abduction of a child in Wisconsin. He is also facing 55 counts of child sexual abuse material possession in Montgomery County, Virginia, court records showed. Joniah Walker, now 19, was reported missing when she was 15. Police have now revealed that she was abducted by suspected pedophile Owen Lars Anderson Anderson, now 37, has been charged with kidnapping, child enticement and abduction of a child in Wisconsin. He is also facing 55 counts of child sexual abuse material possession in Montgomery County, Virginia Blacksburg police were responding to a 911 call for an alleged domestic disturbance at Anderson's home on May 23, the criminal complaint said. During the investigation into the incident, Walker revealed that she had been reported missing as a juvenile and was being held against her will. She told police how Anderson lured her to the cinema with false promises of offering her a better life, the filing said. She told Anderson about the struggles and alleged abuse she was facing in her family home and he convinced her to leave, police said. 'He promised her that he would never hit her, never scream at her, and he would care for her including providing ample food,' the court document read. '[Anderson] told her he wanted to "cuddle" when he picked her up and when she lived with him.'  When they finally met up, Anderson forced her to do a factory reset on her iPhone and then 'dumped' it – along with the burner phone – in the trash can in Chicago, she told investigators. She alleged that he then drove her from Illinois to his home in a rental car. Eerie Ring doorbell camera footage from a neighbor's home showed Walker leaving the area around 2.30pm on June 23, 2022, wearing a large green camping backpack Anderson held her captive, and sexually and physically abused her at his house in Blacksburg, Virginia, a criminal complaint alleged The complaint alleged that the girl was sexually, physically and verbally abused during her capture.  He allegedly made her perform sexual acts on camera and then threatened to expose the videos if she did not comply with his demands, the investigators said.  He also forbade her from attending school, the complaint said. The 37-year-old suspected pedophile was arrested on May 27. He was armed with two Glocks, 14 loaded spare magazines, several knives and three cans of pepper spray when police apprehended him, the complaint said.  Authorities searched his home the next day and allegedly recovered a collection of electronic devices, flash drives, journals and other evidence. Anderson was charged with abduction and immoral acts with a juvenile, strangulation, child abuse and preventing a 911 call in Blacksburg, police said.  Walker with her mother Tanesha Howard. Howard always said she believed that 'someone lured her away' from the home that day He was also hit with 55 counts of child sexual abuse material possession in Montgomery County. The FBI has taken over the digital evidence in the case, officials told WDBJ. Anderson was arraigned on the local charges at the Montgomery County Courthouse on Tuesday and is currently being held in Western Virginia Regional Jail without bond. He is awaiting extradition to Wisconsin to face the charges filed there. Officials told the news outlet that federal charges are also possible and that the charges in Montgomery County could possibly be absorbed in a federal case.