Missing girl, 15, assaulted on Facebook Live, police say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police located a 15-year-old girl who had been missing from the city's West Side since Sunday. Authorities said the teen was sexually assaulted and the attack documented in a Facebook Live video.

This is the second time in months that Chicago police are investigating an attack streamed on Facebook Live. Facebook took the video down after police brought it to their attention, but disturbingly none of the people who watched the live stream called 911.

The girl was reunited with her mother after 10th District officers found her. Detectives spoke with them late Tuesday morning at the police station at West 51st Street and South Wentworth Avenue.

"I need to see her, to physically hug her, to touch her, to say it's okay. That we're here for you, we're family," said family friend Nicole Williams.

The girl went missing Sunday and was then apparently sexually assaulted on Facebook Live.

"She was heinously raped, beaten and abused and assaulted on tape - on FB live. So whatever picture people want to paint of her - she was a chronic runaway or whatever - nobody deserves that. No human being deserves for that to happen to them," said Reginald King, the victim's relative.

"To me it was pure hell. For four to five people to engage in that, and then turn off the lights then turn them back on. In some parts of that video she was looking in pure shock," said Andrew Holmes, community activist.

Holmes was one of the first people made aware of the video's existence, which police said was viewed by at least 40 people. None of them called 911. No arrests have been announced yet but Holmes said detectives know who they're looking for.

"At this point they do know a few. They may have been in contact with them today, I do not know, but I do know they have identified a couple. But there's more than just two," he said.

The girl's mother, who spoke to ABC 7 Monday night, said her daughter left her Lawndale home Sunday to go to the store. That was the last place she was seen before going missing. The girl is a freshman at Lane Tech High School. Students there expressed shock, not just at what happened but at the incident being broadcast on social media.

"I hate that it's become the norm for people to just, like, put stuff up and people to enjoy it or look at it. It's something that I don't take part of," said Jazmine Zamora, Lane Tech student.

The girl remains hospitalized as she recovers from her ordeal. Tuesday afternoon a police spokesperson said detectives are making good progress identifying the people involved in the assault and are still in the interviewing process. There have been no formal identifications of any suspects yet.