Teen Girl Kidnapped in Chicago Found Alive in Virginia After 4 Years

Joniah Walker was 15 years old on June 23, 2022, when she was allegedly kidnapped outside a Chicago movie theater. She was found alive in July 2026 in a frame home in Blacksburg, Virginia, 730 miles away, now 19 years old, according to NBC News reporting.

Walker had taken an Uber from Milwaukee to Chicago to meet a man, arranged through the ride-share service, whom she had been communicating with online for several years before the alleged kidnapping, per NBC News. Once in the car, authorities say she was taken to Virginia and held captive for four years. The suspect, 37-year-old Owen Anderson, allegedly sexually and physically abused her during her captivity, according to police statements reported by NBC News. Anderson also allegedly disposed of Walker's cellphone and a burner phone he sent her in a sidewalk trash can, the reporting states.

Milwaukee County authorities filed kidnapping and child abduction charges against Anderson, per NBC News. Anderson has not yet appeared in Wisconsin court and remains in custody in Virginia, the outlet reports.

But Milwaukee police have offered a different characterization. In 2025, Officer Jamie Sromalla told NBC Milwaukee he had no reason to believe Walker was involved in human trafficking. On Wednesday of this week, a Milwaukee police official reiterated that it would be misleading to report her as a human trafficking victim, according to NBC News. Milwaukee police declined to discuss the alleged kidnapping or answer questions about the investigation.

Family members have criticized the police response. One relative told NBC News, "Why didn't the police go knock on people's doors? Like everybody on that block has a Ring camera. We got the videos, not the police." Another family member stated, "No one interviewed me, no one sat me down. It was us versus the police stations with a glass between us," according to NBC News.

The charges against Anderson lay out that authorities allege she was the victim of kidnapping, child abduction, and sexual abuse while held against her will for years, per NBC News.