OH Man Who Took Maria Gomez-Perez From GA Won't Be Extradited: Sheriff

GAINESVILLE, GA — The 34-year-old man who is facing charges after being accused of returning to Ohio with a 12-year-old Gainesville girl he met online will not be extradited to Georgia — at least for now.

The Hall County Sheriff's Office said Friday that Antonio Agustin-Ailon, the Guatemalan native accused of driving nine hours to pick up Maria Gomez-Perez and returning to his Ohio home with her, will remain incarcerated in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.

“After consultation with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and the elected county prosecutor in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, we have determined it best to delay extradition to Hall County,” said Lee Darragh, district attorney for the Northeastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia, in a news release.

“Based on the information we have at this time, the most serious criminal offenses in this case occurred in Ohio, and the bulk of necessary witnesses even to prove a Hall County case are in Ohio. It makes sense that the suspect answer to what charges Ohio proceeds on first.”

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Authorities did not fully detail the nature of the "serious criminal offenses." Potential charges against Agustin-Ailon were not immediately Friday.

Gomez-Perez was safely found on July 25 in Dover, Ohio after being missing from her Westside Drive home in Gainesville for nearly two months.

She disappeared on May 29 after speaking with Agustin-Ailon and others via Facebook Messenger and other apps prior to her disappearance, telling them she was "unhappy and wanted to leave home," Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said at a past news conference.

Agustin-Ailon drove from Ohio to Gainesville to pick up Gomez-Perez, and the two returned to Ohio, Couch said at the time.

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Gomez-Perez was located after she reached out to her dad via Facebook, Couch said. She notified him via Messenger to tell him she was OK, but she would not be returning home, the sheriff added. She also asked her dad not to look for her, Couch said.

Detectives were able to link the IP address to a phone number before traveling to Dover, where authorities said they found Gomez-Perez and Agustin-Ailon at a swimming pool.

Couch agrees that Agustin-Ailon should not be extradited to Hall County at this time, he said Friday in the release.

“My primary goal in this case is to see justice done," Couch said. "If that means we have to wait for this suspect to have his day in court in Ohio before he faces our charges, so be it. I just want to make sure he has no chance of luring another young girl from home, wreaking havoc on another community like he did ours."