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'America's Most Wanted' suspect arrested
Jordan Bowen reports
LAKELAND, Fla. - A man featured on FOX's "America's Most Wanted" was captured by deputies in Polk County late Sunday evening.
Davie Albarran, 51, has been on the run ever since deputies issued warrants for his arrest in November 2022 on child sex abuse charges. His own family turned to social media and helped work with deputies to track him.
Ana Albarran said once she found out what her father was accused of, she joined the search to find him, posting about it on TikTok and visiting hotels, hoping to find any trace that would help lead to his arrest.
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"We had no idea he was this monster until we exposed him and everyone came forward," his daughter Ana Albarran said in a video posted on TikTok.
Booking photo for Davie Albarran.
Ana helped expose him on social media after claiming that he acted inappropriately towards her as a young child. Her videos went viral and got the attention of other alleged victims.
That's when the Osceola County Sheriff's Office started investigating, eventually issuing warrants on child sex abuse charges.
Last week, the suspect's two daughter were featured on an episode of "America's Most Wanted" after their social media posts about the search for their dad went viral. After that episode aired, Sheriff Judd said deputies received confidential information that Davie Albarran was in Lakeland.
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"They said, ‘hey, we know where this dude is,’ so we snuck around Sunday night just before midnight in the backyard on Country Haven Drive. Well, it might have been Country Haven Drive, but it was no haven for him."
In a tweet, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Deputy Lee and K-9 Officer Kreed helped make the arrest.
"A real father doesn't do that. Your dad is supposed to protect you, and he wasn't acting like a dad," Ana told FOX 35 in Orlando.
"I just feel so liberated and free, like I don't have to do this anymore," she continued. "I don't have to look for him. Of course we have the court process but my search for him is over which means I can go back to my life."
Albarran is being charged with sexual battery on a child under 12 years old and lewd conduct with a child under 12 years old. He remains in the Osceola County Jail.
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