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Michigan moms use Google Maps and screen shots to locate missing daughters

Posted at 3:28 PM, Aug 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-19 13:59:29-04

Two Michigan mothers became high-tech detectives to locate their two missing daughters.

The girls, both 15-years-old, ran away earlier this month from a house in Detroit. The girls had their cell phones with them when they vanished. 

Frances Yancy and Rita Johnson tried following their daughters on social media, but that didn’t work out.  

Once the girls knew they were in trouble, they did secret, video phone calls with their moms. This is where the story gets very interesting. 

While on the phone, the girls would move the phone to show where they were. Yancy and Johnson took screen shots and then pieced them together, along with Google Maps and ground images, to find the apartments where the girls were. 

They say they had to search more than 100 different apartment complexes over a day and a half. One distinct aspect confirmed they had the right location, a pool shaped like a figure eight. 

The women called police. They met at the apartments and their girls were found safe and sound. 

It turns out, the FBI had an open investigation at this location for human trafficking. The Yancy and Johnson say sex ads were posted online.

It's unclear if any arrests have been made. The FBI typically doesn't comment on open cases.