A published report claims that three Florida teens fell asleep in their Lake Wales cabins during Indian Princess’ father-daughter retreat. Then, one of them woke up to see a man sitting over her at 4 AM.
According to court records, one of the girls was a young girl, but her name is not yet released. She woke up her cabin-mates, and she turned on their flashlights using their phones.
The incident was captured on video, and shows the frightened 13 and 14-year-olds whispering after discovering the man in their cabin, Local 10 News.
According to the outlet, one of the girls called her father immediately and the man went under the mattress.
According to the outlet the teenager who initially called her dad decided to take a recording of the event on her smartphone in the case that she were killed to let others know.
According to Local 10, the girls waited until their dads arrived from their ranch cabins. Then they called them again.
“I’m scared,” The recording was made by the teenager. “My hands are shaking.”
“Is the front door unlocked?” the father asked on the video.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, there … can you come in?” According to the video, she stated.
When the fathers neared the cabin, the man emerged from under the bed and ran, according to Local 10.
“Dad, dad! He just left,” One of the teenagers can be heard speaking on the recording.
The video and the girls’ description of the man’s hoodie, which had a picture of an alien on the back, led deputies to 25-year-old Raul Mora-Yanez, a ranch employee, according to the outlet.
According to reports, Mora-Yanez is charged with burglary at an occupied house.
Police said he told them he was drinking, went for a walk, and made his way into the cabin, thinking it was empty, per the report.
Mora-Yanez claimed that the door was locked, but the deputies said otherwise. According to the outlet, he had a master key for the cabins because of his work at camp.
“It’s concerning, it’s frightening, it’s disturbing,” the teens’ families’ attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said. “They have been emotionally traumatized.”
According to reports, detectives took the phone Mora Yanez dropped while running.
The outlet claims that the phone was returned to Mora-Yanez after he bonded.
“They had the phone after they made the arrest that night and they should (have) kept the phone and applied for a search warrant,” Schwartzreich said.
According to the report, parents of teens worry that the evidence could have been present and may reduce their burglary charges.
“If someone is in a cabin, if there is a phone and he is standing over the girls, what are the intentions?” Schwartzreich stated this to the outlet.
“Is there video voyeurism? Is he videoing? We don’t know.”
Schwartzreich said to the local outlet that it was necessary for more work at the outset.
“We are being told right now that, and we are a week past, they don’t have enough to get a search warrant. I find that to be troubling, disheartening and disappointing, and some might say that is outrageous.”
According to Local 10, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is still open and they are working with the state attorney, but they had no further comment.
An assistant chief procuror from that area informed the outlet they are planning to prosecute Mora-Yanez as far as the law allows.
According to Local 10, Mora-Yanez has no prior criminal history, and the ranch says he’s a former camper.
According to the camp, they were unable to provide any further information. “upset and disappointed,” He had no reason whatsoever to believe he’d do something like that.
“Raul is a good kid who has been affiliated with the Circle F Ranch since 2009 as a camper or staff counselor,” Mora-Yanez’s attorney, Brett Schwartz, said in a statement.
“As a father myself, I understand the parents’ anxiety. However, like the allegations, it is based solely on presumptions, not facts. In a court of law, the latter is what matters.”
According to court records, Mora-Yanez was scheduled for arraignment December 13.