A missing Arizona girl has been found in Utah in the home of a man convicted of sexually extorting a teenage girl in 2020.
Agents from Adult Probation and Parole received information from authorities in Arizona that a 14-year-old runaway girl was missing from that state and was possibly with 26-year-old Jordan Daniel Sorenson, according to the Utah Department of Corrections.
Sorenson was convicted of aggravated sexual extortion of a child in 2020. In that case, he solicited explicit pictures from a 13-year-old girl on social media, verbally berated her and threatened to post pictures of her online if she didn’t send him more. He was sentenced to up to five years in the Utah State Prison but that sentence was suspended and he was placed on four years of probation. He is also required to comply with the conditions of the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnap Registry.
Once Utah authorities received information from Arizona officials on Tuesday, an investigation was launched by the attorney general’s human trafficking unit. Investigators located Sorenson at his work and took him into custody. They then searched his home in West Valley City and found the missing girl in the basement, according to the statement from corrections officials.
A warrant was issued for Sorenson’s arrest on Wednesday by Adult Probation and Parole agents, requesting that a judge order him to remain in custody for three days as investigators collect evidence of possible child kidnapping.
“The attorney general’s office is currently investigating this incident and Mr. Sorenson is the primary suspect,” according to the court filing. “Mr. Sorenson is being investigated for kidnapping, enticing a minor and rape.”
The girl, who agents say is “safe,” was placed in the care of the victim’s advocate from the attorney general’s office.
Police say surveillance video obtained by a juvenile probation officer in Arizona showed the girl being picked up in Sorenson’s vehicle.
“AP&P agents conducted a search of Mr. Sorenson’s bedroom where multiple receipts were found. One of the receipts was (from a store in) Kingman, Arizona. There was also an invoice from Motel 6 in Kingman, Arizona, with a Jordan Sorenson’s name on it as well. Mr. Sorenson is believed to have left the state without permission and kidnapped a 14-year-old minor which he then brought back to his residence in Utah,” the AP&P warrant states.
As the investigation continued, the girl’s cellphone was found discarded in a dumpster in Taylorsville, according to the warrant.
When questioned by investigators, the girl claimed she had met Sorenson on TikTok about a month ago and they soon began to communicate using Snapchat, the warrant says. She said Sorenson picked her up in Arizona on Jan. 27 and helped cut off her ankle monitor. The girl told authorities that they first drove to Las Vegas, during which time he placed her phone in airplane mode so she could not be tracked.
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