Man held in girl’s disappearance alleged abuse

More charges possible
The cases involving the other girls have not been prosecuted because the frightened girls were reluctant to give statements necessary to pursue the cases. Police said they will be interviewed and additional charges may be filed against Gault.

“The case is definitely ongoing,” Blatter said. “There are obviously greater suspicions that are being pursued.”

The girl’s stepfather told WCBS-TV in an interview Thursday that her mother had been allowed to spend a few hours with her Wednesday.

“She’s having some issues,” he said of the girl. “She didn’t even know who she was.”

He said family members, who own a kennel and dog day care in Bloomfield, had limited information about what had happened to the girl in the year she was gone.

“We’re just as much in the dark as everybody else is right now,” said the stepfather.

The teen had no obvious external injuries. Investigators would not speculate on what she might have experienced during the past year or if she was held against her will.

Blatter said the girl remained in protective custody Thursday so investigators could continue talking with her.

Police said they had already established that Gault knew the missing girl, and said he and the girl’s parents had some sort of undisclosed business transaction in the year before she disappeared.

Police: Suspect, girl talked often
Cell phone records showed that Gault and the teen talked often before she vanished, Blatter told CNN.

MSNBC video Locked-up girl found June 6: Jeffrey Blatter of the Bloomfield, Conn., police department, announces the recovery of the teen. MSNBC

“There was an inordinate amount of contact via cellular phone and then, during follow ups, there were a lot of other circumstances that led us to believe there was an inappropriate relationship,” he said.

Officers had questioned Gault several times, but he always denied any involvement in her disappearance. They served a search warrant on his home Wednesday morning, seeking a DNA sample and other evidence.

The girl was held in a locked tiny room, about 3 feet high and 4 to 5 feet deep. The doorway was hidden by a bureau.

Blatter said it did not appear the girl lived in the hidden room, and that police did not find bedding or other items that would suggest it was used as living space.

A 16-year-old boy identified in court documents as Murphy’s son was also living at the house. He was placed in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families, which also will decide if the missing girl should be returned to her parents.

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