A man who has been accused of kidnapping and possibly murdering 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris, has been arrested in Florida.
Officials in Escambia County, Florida, announced the arrest of Ibraheem Yazeed who was apprehended near Pine Forest Road and Interstate 10, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
Yazeed, 29, was captured about 140 miles south of Montgomery where he is from, police report.
On Friday, the suspect was charged with first-degree kidnapping charges in connection to the disappearance of Aniah Blanchard, who was last seen in Auburn, Alabama, on Oct. 23.
U.S. Marshals in Montgomery, Alabama, alerted officials in Florida that Yazeed may be in the area based on a tip they received that he may be around the area of Pine Forest.
The victim was last seen at a convenience store in Auburn. Yazeed was also seen on surveillance video at the same store that day. Officials say there is some evidence that the teen was taken against her will, but that evidence has not been released.
Blanchard’s 2017 Honda CRV was later discovered sitting damaged in an apartment complex parking lot in Montgomery, 55 miles away from where she was last seen.
Before the suspect’s arrest on Friday, Yazeed was out of jail on bond for attempted murder, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, and two counts of first-degree robbery from a case in February.
“To say the least, it’s upsetting,” Walt Harris told NBC News on Thursday. “That you have a rap sheet as long as what I’ve been told and you’re walking around free. It’s confusing how a person that bad and that evil can be amongst us.”
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