Huntsville Man Charged With Several Felony Charges In Disappearance Of 13-Year-Old Juvenile

Rodrigo Chagolla Ortega

MADISON-On Thursday, January 23 the Madison County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release concerning the disappearance of a 13-yer old juvenile from Jefferson County who was found in Madison County:

“On 01/21/2020 at or around 7:30am, a 13-year-old juvenile disappeared from Jefferson County, AL. She was located in Madison county with a 24-year-old male who had told her he was 19. The male offender lives in Huntsville and was identified by law enforcement officers as Rodrigo Chagolla Ortega. Ortega met the juvenile female victim via social media. The Pelham Police Department will be charging Ortega with Interference with Child Custody (C Felony). MCSO will be charging Ortega with numerous felonies as well. This was a multi-agency investigation by the FBI, HPD, MCSO, Pelham PD, and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. The FBI, along with FBI Task Force officers including MCSO Investigators, followed several leads throughout the day today. One of those leads led law enforcement officers to a location on Joslin Street in Huntsville where the victim and adult male offender were located. Both the victim and offender were taken into custody without incident. The juvenile was transported to the Children’s Advocacy Center for investigative follow-up. The male offender was taken to MCSO Criminal Investigations Division where he was interviewed by the FBI and MCSO task force investigator.

The investigation is on-going with more charges expected to follow. Sheriff Kevin Turner stated, “We are happy that the victim can be reunited with her family, and that the man responsible has been brought to justice. The tireless work by the FBI and the Sheriff’s Office Investigators help bring this case to a close. This is yet another example of the importance of multi-jurisdictional partnerships. I’d also like to thank ALEA who made the AMBER alert broadcast possible”.