Milwaukee girl abducted in 2022, Virginia man charged

MILWAUKEE - A Virginia man is accused of abducting a Milwaukee girl, holding her against her will and abusing her for years, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Friday.

Charges filed

In court:

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office charged 37-year-old Owen Anderson of Virginia with kidnapping, child enticement and abduction of a child. Court records show an arrest warrant has been issued for him.

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Western Virginia Regional Jail records show Anderson is booked there on a charge of kidnapping a person under 16 years of age one day after the victim was located. FOX6 News reached out to Anderson's attorney but did not immediately hear back.

Victim vanishes

The backstory:

According to a criminal complaint, Anderson convinced the victim to leave her Brown Street home in June 2022. Prosecutors said he promised her, among other things, that he would "never hit her" and would provide "ample food."

The victim's Facebook and Find My phone app accounts were both logged out on the date she went missing, the complaint said. Two weeks after she disappeared, police found surveillance video that appeared to show the victim and shared images with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Prosecutors said Anderson instructed the victim "every step of the way" and arranged for a ride to pick her up and take her to Chicago in June 2022. When she got there, he dumped her phone in the trash and took her out of state.

Victim found years later

Dig deeper:

Court filings said investigators looked into leads and tips that came in from throughout the country as the missing person case continued for roughly four years.

Then, in May 2026, Milwaukee police received a call from an out-of-state police department. A lieutenant said that his agency made contact with the victim while responding to a 911 call for a domestic dispute. The victim would not disclose her real name at first, but later gave her identity and disclosed that she was missing from Milwaukee, the complaint said.

A Milwaukee police officer traveled out of state to investigate the circumstances of the victim's disappearance and recovery. Court filings said a search of Anderson's home found a number of electronic devices, flash drives, journals and personal information for both Anderson and the victim.

What they're saying:

The victim told out-of-state investigators that Anderson held her against her will and physically and sexually abused her for years, according to the complaint. She said he did not allow her to attend school, threatened to hurt her if she tried to leave, and physically harmed her on "several occasions."

Court filings said the victim told police that she started communicating with Anderson online when she was 12 years old.

Taken into custody

Dig deeper:

The complaint said, when police arrested Anderson, he had two guns, several loaded magazines and knifes, and three cans of pepper spray on his person. 

The victim described a specific instance in which Anderson sexually assaulted her in a rental car after they left Chicago, court filings said. In an interview with police, Anderson claimed he was sleeping and "did not know what he was doing when he sexually assaulted" the victim.

This story was updated to include Anderson's Western Virginia Regional Jail booking photo.

Editor's note: While FOX6 News will name missing persons in an effort to help the public find them, once a missing person has been identified as a crime victim, we will no longer use their name to protect their privacy.

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