11-year-old Natalia Asenova, who was kidnapped at the end of last month, was found in the early hours of July 23. The news was officially confirmed by the Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev on his personal Facebook profile, BNR reported. The child is safe and has already been returned to her family.
The girl and her stepfather — 40-year-old Asen Simeonov, were located in the Shumen village of Ovcharovo. The arrest was made after 24-hour secret police posts. The child is very scared, but told law enforcement that she feels relief and happiness from the happy ending.
Natalia disappeared on June 30 from the Varna village of Konstantinovo. According to the mother's testimony, her ex-partner broke into their home, beat her and forced the girl to leave with him under threat of death.
During the large-scale operation, which lasted nearly a month, the AMBER Alert and BG-ALERT systems were activated in several districts. The Minister of the Interior expressed his immense gratitude to all employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, volunteers and local authorities for their coordination and round-the-clock work. Procedural and investigative actions are being carried out against the detained Asen Simeonov, who is a criminal.