Vacaville man is arrested after missing Maine teen found

Taylor Hauke, 23, held in Nebraska and facing criminal charges

A Vacaville man was arrested in connection with the disappearance of a Maine teenager after both were located in Nebraska.

The arrest of Taylor Hauke, 23, came under a week after officers at the Lewiston Police Department announced that a 15-year-old girl who had been residing at an emergency youth shelter in Lewiston had gone missing. Hauke is currently being held at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska, pending criminal charges.

According to a post on the Lewiston PD’s Facebook page, the girl had last been seen at approximately 2:30 p.m. March 18 when she told the shelter she was leaving to go on a walk. When she did not return by 4, the shelter contacted the Lewiston police to report her as missing.

Lewiston police detectives wrote that she had reportedly communicated with Hauke through social media before her disappearance. The department enlisted the aid of several law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security’s investigations office, California Attorney

General’s Office, Vacaville Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and Oakland Police Department in Maine.

Lt. Bryan Larsen said the Vacaville PD was initially contacted by a relative of the missing teen, and the Lewiston PD asked the department to do some area checks in Vacaville on the chance that she may have ended up in town. After conducting area checks, Larsen said Vacaville police were unable to confirm any evidence that the teen was ever in the city.

Hauke’s Ford Mustang was later located at a rest stop along Interstate 80 in Brady, Neb., according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The teen was also found, and arrangements were being made to reunite her with her family in Maine as of the most recent Lewiston PD post.

Hauke faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and intentional non-injurious cruelty to a child, according to his booking information on the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office website. A court date and venue have not yet been set.