Missing Mormon convert found in Texas

A 19-year-old girl allegedly abducted from her Holladay home by her Texas parents because she recently converted to the LDS Church has been found at her parents' house in Texas.

Danielle Alonso is reportedly safe, but it was unclear Tuesday whether she was staying at the Corpus Christi house of her own free will or being held forcibly, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

As of Tuesday evening, no one had been arrested and no warrants had been issued.

Alonso was last seen Sunday at her basement apartment, near 5800 South and 2100 East. She was reportedly worried that her father, Daniel Alonso, would come to her apartment because she had sent him a letter a week earlier telling him that she became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The father responded with an angry phone call, followed by a second call in which he threatened to travel from Texas to Utah to get her.

Because of alleged past physical abuse, Danielle was reportedly scared and called the sheriff's office. Detectives told her to lock the door and call 911 if he showed up.

Daniel Alonso, 46, did arrive in Utah on Sunday, but she answered the door apparently believing she could talk herself out of the situation, Hutson said. Instead, Daniel Alonso grabbed his daughter just after she opened the door, and he took her to his rental car, Hutson said.

That car was later dropped off at the Denver International Airport.

What Daniel, Danielle and her mother, Gloria Alonso, 48, did between Colorado and Texas or how they got there was still unknown Tuesday. Detectives had information, however, that the group traveled through New Mexico, Hutson said.

As of Tuesday evening, the sheriff's office had not had any direct contact with the Alonsos, only their attorney. Police in Rockport, Texas, however, were reportedly conducting an investigation of their own and sharing information with the sheriff's office in Utah, Hutson said.

The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office sent one of its own detectives to Texas on Tuesday to talk to Danielle Alonso and figure out what exactly was happening. Hutson said the detective is scheduled to interview Danielle sometime Wednesday morning.

"We'll make a determination whether a crime has occurred," he said.