Missing Teen Found As Cops Investigate Facebook Live Video Of Boys Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Her

CHICAGO, IL — Detectives are investigating the case of a missing teenage girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted in a videotaped attack that was posted on Facebook Live before she was found, a Chicago Police Department spokesman said Tuesday.

The 15-year-old girl, who had been reported missing by her family Monday, was discovered safe by officers, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote in an update Tuesday morning on his Twitter account. The Lane Tech High School freshman was spotted at around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 21, and was taken to an area hospital after being reunited with her mother, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to Reginald King, the girl's uncle, the teen was in "good condition," but she suffered injuries from the attack, including a busted lip and puffy cheeks, the report stated.

"She has a great family. … We gonna do our best to make sure she comes out on the other side well and whole. That she can find enough peace to persevere," King told the Tribune.

The video posted online depicted several boys allegedly sexually assaulting the teen, the girl's mother, Stacey Elkins, told WGN News. Friends and family members told Elkins about the video, sending her screen shots of the footage.

"It was disgusting," Elkins said during a press conference Tuesday morning.

WATCH: The mother of a missing 15-year-old girl who was found safe after a video of several boys allegedly sexually assaulting her was posted on Facebook Live talks to reporters Tuesday.

Although investigators have been conducting interviews in the case, police haven't identified any formal suspects, and no charges had been filed by early Tuesday evening, Guglielmi stated in an online update.

Ald. Mike Scott (24th Ward), however, told the Tribune that police informed him that at least one juvenile had been arrested as of late Tuesday morning.

The video of the attack has been removed from Facebook, but Elkins gave the screen shots of the footage to investigators on the case, as well as Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the report stated.

"What’s even more disturbing, more than the fact that they did this, there were so many people that saw this, and they didn’t pick up the phone and dial 911," Johnson told WGN concerning the video footage. "That’s just not right, and [we’re] working on it and try to bring it to a successful resolution."

About 40 people viewed the video the short time it was on Facebook, the Tribune reports. The social media platform does not allow users to celebrate or glorify criminal acts, a policy put in place after videos were posted on Facebook earlier this year showing a mentally challenged Crystal Lake man being tied up and tormented by four other people in a West Side apartment.

In addition to an around-the-clock team monitoring for reports of unacceptable content, Facebook allows live videos to be interrupted and reviewed if only one complaint is received and reviewed, according to the Tribune.

As police try to identify and track down the other people in the footage, King told the Tribune that he believes the "beam team" — a gang of 35 to 50 teenage boys in the Lawndale neighborhod — are responsible for his niece's ordeal. King claims these "thugs" have been terrorizing residents, and he suspects at least one adult helped the teens perpertrate the attack on his niece, the report added.

“As a society we have to ask ourselves, how did it get to the point where young men feel like it’s a badge of honor to sexually assault a girl … to not only do this to a girl, but broadcast it for the world?” he told the Tribune.

"It hurts me to my core, because I was one of the last people to see her," King added. "I want to make sure this never happens to anybody else's kids, and if that starts with taking down this one group, I’ll make that my life’s mission.

"If we don’t stand up and do anything about it now, who knows if the next kid this happens to, maybe they don’t get to come home. Maybe this doesn’t get to have a happy ending."

(Editor's Note: Patch does not use the names of sexual assault victims.)

More via WGN News and the Chicago Tribune

UPDATED (8:24 p.m. Tuesday, March 21)

Photo via Shutterstock

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