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Police continue hunt for alleged kidnapper after California teen found safe

Brittny Mejia poses for a portrait
By Brittny Mejia
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Oregon police are continuing to search for a Washington state man in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a California teenager found safe Monday.

The 15-year-old, reported missing from Sanger in the Central Valley, entered a McDonald’s in Astoria, Ore., on Monday night and said she had been kidnapped, police said.

The teen, missing since Saturday, has been reunited with her family, authorities said.

Police identified the suspect as 48-year-old Russell Wayne Deviney of Everett, Wash. The teen met her alleged abductor through social media, said Eric Halverson, Astoria’s deputy chief of police.

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The two arrived together at the Astoria McDonald’s parking lot and Deviney walked away in an unknown direction, police said. After Deviney left the vehicle, the teen went inside and reported the kidnapping to staff.

The Astoria Police Department is working with Sanger authorities and the FBI.

For breaking California news, follow @brittny_mejia.

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Brittny Mejia

Brittny Mejia is a Metro reporter covering federal courts for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote narrative pieces with a strong emphasis on the Latino community and others that make up the diversity of L.A. and California. Mejia was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2021 in local reporting for her investigation with colleague Jack Dolan that exposed failures in Los Angeles County’s safety-net healthcare system that resulted in months-long wait times for patients, including some who died before getting appointments with specialists. She joined The Times in 2014.

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