Runaway teen girl found beaten, unable to speak

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Police in St. Petersburg are hoping you can help them figure out what happened to a teenage runway that left her injured so badly that she can’t even speak to detectives.

It was just after midnight on May 27 when a woman called police to report that her daughter had apparently run away.  She was spotted four hours later, walking in a daze on 22nd Avenue South near 12th Street.

Police say the teen had been beaten and sexually assaulted. Due to injuries to her face and jaw, she was unable to speak to detectives.

Investigators spent two weeks trying to re-trace the girl’s steps and interviewing everyone she came in contact with that night, while also reviewing surveillance video.  They are still waiting on DNA results to come back.

In the meantime, they have released a composite sketch of the suspect, based on a partial description that the victim was able to provide.

The mother of the 15-year-old girl who was brutally beaten and raped wants her daughter's attacker behind bars.  She spoke to FOX 13 late Monday evening. 

"I'm so hurt because it didn't happen to me physically but I feel like it did that's my baby, she didn't deserve that no one does," she said.

The teen had just run from home after arguing with her mom.  FOX 13 is not identifying her to protect the girl's identity.

While she was outside a man asked her to perform a sexual favor but she refused.  "She said she tried to walk away and he kept following her," the mother described.

Investigators are combing through surveillance video and waiting on the results of DNA tests.

"This man is dangerous because she was severely beaten and hurt we want to arrest him," said St. Pete Police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez.   

"Please turn he will do it again he may do it to your sister your daughter your mother," the girl's mother said.

Police ask anyone with information to contact SPPD at 727-893-7780, or text "SPPD" and the tip to TIP411.