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Local moms use Google Maps and screen shots to locate missing daughters

Posted at 5:28 PM, Aug 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-19 12:24:03-04

Two mothers became high tech detectives to locate their two missing daughters.

The girls - both 15-years-old ran away a week and a half ago from a house in Detroit. The girls had their cell phones. 

Frances Yancy and Rita Johnson tried following their daughters on social media, but that didn’t work out.  

Once the girls knew they were in trouble, they did secret, video phone calls with their moms. This is where the story gets very interesting. 

While on the phone the girls would move the phone to show where they were. The moms took screen shots and then pieced them together along with Google Maps and ground images to find the apartments where the girls were. 

They say they had to search more than 100 different apartment complexes over a day and a half.  One distinct aspect confirmed they had the right location, a pool shaped like a number 8. 

It was the Harlo Apartments near 13 Mile and Mound in Warren.

The moms called police. They met at the apartments and the girls were found safe and sound. 

It turns out, the FBI had an open investigation at this location for human trafficking. The moms say sex ads were posted online.

The FBI did not call us back, but usually will not comment on an open case. We do not now if any arrests have been made. 

The moms want everyone involved charged.