NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. -- Trucker Kevin Kimmel is a father and grandfather. He says several things about a RV parked in the Pilot Truck lot in New Kent caught his attention. The biggest red flag was catching a glimpse of a distraught looking girl who abruptly disappeared behind a black curtain, that’s when he quickly called police.
"I only learned the gruesome details through the news,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel was inside his rig, parked behind the Pilot station. A couple of doors down he notices suspicious activity in the RV.
"Saw what looked like a young girl looking out the window, the black drapes didn't make it look like a families’ RV, you know,” Kimmel said. "I saw a guy come up and knock on the door then go inside the Pilot--then quickly came back and knocked again, all of the sudden the thing was rocking and rolling."
Kimmel, a veteran trucker, said it was a no brainer what was going on,so he dialed deputies.
“When I saw the young girl's face, I said that's not going to happen, I’ve got daughters and granddaughters."
Inside the RV, investigators found a couple from Iowa and a young woman who looks disheveled and malnourished.
Aldair Hodza and Laura Sorenson were arrested and are now charged with a federal crime of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
According to an affidavit, the victim’s feet had puncture wounds on top consistent with nails hammered into her flesh and numerous burns on her abdomen, groin and back consistent with being struck and stamped with a hot metal key.
"I’m just happy I helped her,” Kimmel said.
They travel highways, sometimes hundreds of miles per day, and Kimmel said he has a habit of being vigilant; that January day his gut instinct was a life saver
"He saved that girls life and that's awesome,” said a fellow trucker. “I have two kids at home man and if somebody messed with them I’d want someone to call the cops and tell me."
