A 14-year-old girl reported missing from Cromwell Drive in Spartanburg County on Friday has been found safe in New York, where deputies say a 22-year-old man from Long Island now faces kidnapping charges. The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office came to the Cromwell Drive residence on Friday after receiving the information, and authorities believe the man was in the neighborhood at the time the teen vanished.
According to WYFF, family members and acquaintances informed deputies that the juvenile had been communicating to someone claiming to be from New York. Investigators later identified the suspect as Ceasar Daniel Palacios-Escalon, 22, of Long Island, New York, and deputies issued an arrest warrant charging him with kidnapping. According to the station, Palacios-Escalon and the missing adolescent were found in New York about 1 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2026, while he was apparently on his way home.
Palacios-Escalon was caught by New York officials when investigators discovered him and the missing youngster in New York at 1 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2026, and he is currently being held in New York, where he also faces other local charges, according to the same article. Following the teen’s recuperation, authorities placed her in protective custody. According to the report, written by digital content producer Chloe McCoy, officials have stated that they would not provide any other information at this time, and the investigation is ongoing.
According to Justia Law, kidnapping is a felony punishable by up to 30 years in jail under South Carolina Code § 16-3-910. The offense involves unlawfully seizing, detaining, inveigling, or decoying any person without legal authorization. The published records do not show whether federal prosecutors could evaluate the case under the Federal Kidnapping Act (18 U.S. Code § 1201). According to the Strom Law Firm, South Carolina law provides for conspiracy charges under S.C. Code § 16-3-920, with a 30-year maximum if investigators discover that an overt act was taken toward an abduction scheme, even if the plan was not executed.
Bringing Palacios-Escalon back to South Carolina to face the kidnapping warrant may need an interstate extradition process, as South Carolina, along with Missouri, is one of only two states that has not ratified the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. According to FindLaw, South Carolina’s refusal to approve the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act does not imply that returning Ceasar Daniel Palacios-Escalon would require an especially complex interstate extradition process. The measures that must be taken before being transferred to South Carolina will be determined by the applicable extradition process.
The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, which reacted to the kidnapping claim and obtained the arrest warrant, has lately experienced internal leadership changes. Former Sheriff Chuck Wright resigned in 2025 before pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and obtaining controlled narcotics through deception, according to Police1. This is not the only case involving alleged interstate luring that Spartanburg authorities have handled recently; in May, federal prosecutors indicted three Upstate South Carolina residents in a separate interstate luring and kidnapping plot that crossed state lines between North Carolina and Spartanburg, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the Harrah’s casino luring investigation. Separately, Spartanburg police issued a public notice this week for another missing local kid, 17-year-old Paris Reed, who was last seen on Woodview Avenue in an unconnected case that Hoodline also reported on.
Authorities have not disclosed any other information on how the adolescent and Palacios-Escalon originally interacted, and the Cromwell Drive investigation is still ongoing.
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