The two New Mexico State University students reported missing earlier this week have been located in Idaho and are said to be in good condition.
McKinnah Sinclair, 18, and 19-year-old Charlie Daniels were located by police Thursday morning in Nampa, Idaho, just west of Boise.
The Las Cruces Police detective in charge of the case learned that shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, a Nampa police officer observed a red Ford Focus traveling 30 miles per hour below the posted speed limit. The officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle driven by Daniels. Sinclair and Daniels were the only occupants of the vehicle.
The Idaho officer discovered the vehicle had a fictitious license plate.
The Ford Focus the women were in belongs to the parents of Daniels. However, the license plate at the time of the traffic stop in Idaho belongs to another vehicle. Police learned that the women intentionally switched plates before embarking on their interstate trip.
Daniels faces charges in Idaho for driving a vehicle with fictitious plates.
LCPD has learned that their families made arrangements to have the women returned to New Mexico.
Sinclair and Daniels attended the Rare El Paso hip-hop concert on Friday, Feb. 3, at the El Paso County Coliseum. Missing person affidavits were filed with LCPD Tuesday morning after the women failed to return home or contact family.
Sinclair and Daniels were captured on a surveillance camera Monday at an ATM in Beverly Hills, Calif. Police believe the women traveled to California and Idaho on their own, but failed to inform family or friends of their plans. Attempts to reach the women via cell phone or social media were ineffective and it appears the two were trying to keep their whereabouts unknown.
The Las Cruces Police Department received assistance on this case from various law enforcement agencies in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada and Idaho.
Information from Las Cruces Police