By Stephanie Reitz
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BLOOMFIELD, Conn. (AP) - A 15-year-old girl who had been missing for nearly a year was found alive Wednesday in a small hidden room under a staircase, in a home owned by an acquaintance of her parents, police said.
Investigators arrested a couple living at the West Hartford home.
Police in nearby Bloomfield said they found the girl in a room blocked from view by a dresser. They said they had gone to the home with West Hartford police to serve search warrants for DNA and other evidence, but investigators would not say whether the warrants were related to the missing girl.
It did not appear the girl had been living in the room, but she could not have gotten out on her own, Bloomfield police Capt. Jeffrey Blatter said. It was not clear how long she had been inside.
Blatter said the girl was pale, but he would not identify her or comment further on her state of mind and physical condition when she was found. She was being examined by medical personnel.
"We can all assume that a 14-year-old under the influence of a 40-year-old has been harmed in some way," he said.
The home's owner, Adam Gault, 41, an animal trainer from West Hartford, was charged with second-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree custodial interference, interfering with an officer, risk of injury to a minor and second-degree forgery. He was being held on $500,000 bond.
Ann Murphy, 40, described by police as Gault's common-law wife, was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree reckless endangerment, conspiracy to commit second-degree custodial interference and risk of injury to a minor. She was held on $100,000 bond.
The girl had been known to run away, Blatter said.
"She is a child from troubled circumstances and found what she believed to be a friend" in Gault, Blatter said.
Police said they expect to make more arrests.
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12/02
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