STANFORD, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Lincoln County man is facing several charges after deputies say a missing teen out of North Carolina was found hidden inside a trap door inside his home.
34-year-old Zackary Jones is facing more than a dozen charges, including rape, sodomy, strangulation, terroristic threatening, and resisting arrest. According to his arrest citation, Lincoln County deputies were called to a home on Christmas Day for a domestic violence situation on Robertstown Road. When deputies arrived, Jones told them the female victim was not there.
Jones later took deputies through the home, according to the citation, and deputies could see drug paraphernalia with residue in plain view. That's when authorities say Jones grabbed it and tried to dispose of it in a wood stove in the bedroom.
At that point, deputies restrained Jones and put him in the back of a police cruiser before looking back inside to locate the female. Deputies claim that's when they found her inside a trap door that was hidden under a rug in Jones' bedroom. Authorities were able to confirm she was a missing 16-year-old out of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Authorities say the 16-year-old appeared "very high" at the time of Jones' arrest. Jones admitted to doing drugs and "engaging with sexual activity" with her, according to his arrest citation.
The teen told deputies he came to North Carolina and brought her back to Kentucky. She says he made contact with her 2-3 weeks prior to picking her up and told her that he was 19 years old. The citation states when he showed up to get her, she states he looked older and he then told her that he had lied to her and that he was 25 years old. She told deputies that after they got to his home and met his family, she found out he was 34 years old. That's when she claims to deputies that he threatened her and told her to tell others that she was 18 years old.
According to Jones' arrest citation, the teen claims Jones had been armed with a handgun and threatened to kill her on multiple occasions. She also told deputies on the night he picked her up, they were stopped by a Lincoln County deputy for a traffic violation and that he was going to shoot the officer if they tried to get him or her out of the vehicle.
Jones is being held in the Pulaski County Jail.
