A North Carolina man was arrested Thursday in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a 4-year-old girl in Lexington County, South Carolina, more than three decades ago, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Office.

Thomas Eric McDowell, 61, has been charged with murder, kidnapping and first-degree burglary in the disappearance and death of Jessica Gutierrez.

Gutierrez disappeared from her home sometime after 11:30 p.m. on June 5, 1986, according to a missing person poster distributed by the sheriff's office and the FBI.

Authorities later identified McDowell's fingerprint, according to a redacted arrest warrant. It's unclear where authorities found the fingerprint or when it was identified as belonging to McDowell.

In the same warrant, authorities said McDowell was later identified in a photo lineup, and he told other people he had kidnapped and killed the girl.

The sheriff's office said the girl was never seen again, and her body was never found.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said after taking "a fresh look at the case" last year, special agents from the FBI and the state prosecutor's office visited the area. South Carolina law enforcement agents helped interview more than 125 people. A video featuring an emotional interview with Jessica's mother, Debra, was also circulated when the case was reopened.

But it's unclear what development in the case led to McDowell's arrest, and a spokesperson for the sheriff, who provided the arrest warrants and other information, didn't supply an answer to this question when pressed by CNN.

"If you're not safe at home, where are you going to be safe?" asked the girl's mother, Debra Gutierrez, in an interview last year with law enforcement officials. The mother said she "had mental breakdowns" following her daughter's disappearance.

McDowell was living in Lexington County in 1986. The Wake Forest Police Department arrested him at his home Thursday morning, about 20 miles north of Raleigh. He is being held in the Wake County Detention Center, according to the sheriff's office, which also said the case will be prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.

CNN has contacted the South Carolina Attorney General's Office for additional information and is awaiting comment.

At a hearing Friday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina, McDowell, represented by a public defender, was ordered held without bond until he is extradited to South Carolina.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Ouest Department —

The recent kidnapping of 17 missionaries from a U.S.-based Christian ministry on assignment in Haiti has the country in shock.

"Something's got to be done," says Joan Conn, executive director for Restavek Freedom, a community dedicated to ending child slavery in Haiti.

She has been to that country many times and said she will go again.

In the wake of a gang kidnapping 12 adults and five children from an American-based Christian ministry, demanding ransom, she described the streets as dangerous and traumatic.

Kidnappings happen routinely there, she says, so we asked her why she intends to go back.

"Well, I feel called to Haiti," she said. "And so does my husband. And I think that, you know, it doesn't, it defies reason, for sure. It's not reasonable. But I think, oftentimes, you know, God puts you in places that don't seem reasonable at the time. I mean, I am a suburban woman driving around in an armored car."

Conn said they have put gates and bars and locks on their doors and windows.

They even hired a security company.

"So, it's expensive, because of how you're having to pay for all these different things that you never dreamed you would have to pay for," she said.

Restavek does much of its work in southern Haiti, but locals say it's too risky to drive there now.

And with a recent earthquake, transporting goods to the south is problematic.

About a month ago, one of Conn's staff members was kidnapped.

"It's every day in Haiti," she said. "Every day, somebody's getting kidnapped there. It's just, I mean, it's an industry."

Her staff member was beaten but then released when his family paid ransom money.

She spoke about a woman merchant in Haiti who was unable to afford the ransom demanded for her daughter.

So, her daughter was killed.

With a breakdown of the rule of law and a government unable to find enough purchase for stability, the gangs have seized the moment as equal opportunity kidnappers.

"It can be rich or poor," Conn said of kidnapping targets. "It can be a child, it can be an adult. It can be a professional, it can be a street merchant. You know, they don't discriminate against who they kidnap. So, it's a huge problem. I mean, yesterday eight more people were kidnapped in Port-au-Prince."

Asked what impact the lawlessness is going to have on mission work there, Conn said a lot of people have already pulled out.

One local group with staff on the ground in that country declined to talk, fearing anything they would say could exacerbate the peril for their workers.

Those who kidnapped the group of seventeen are reportedly demanding a ransom of $1 million for each captive.

The FBI has joined the effort with the U.S. government to try to bring about the safe return of the hostages.

Back to those initial words of hers, that something's got to be done.

"I believe if I were sitting in front of President Biden right now, I'd say, 'Send troops into Haiti,'" she said. "There has to be a rule of law in Haiti and, right now, there is no rule of law. And, without rule of law, you cannot function, and you don't feel safe."

She said children are depending on us.

One can read a double meaning in that statement.

The commitment to mission work, and "us" as in U. S.

DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Two men kidnapped a Delhi woman at gunpoint Wednesday morning and forced her to withdraw thousands from her bank account, according to Delhi Township police.

Both suspects remained at large by Thursday night.

Police said the pair attacked the victim early Wednesday morning, forcing their way into her Kitty Lane home and her car. They threatened her until she agreed to visit a series of local banks to make large withdrawals — about $10,000, according to investigators.

The victim was too frightened to call police or say anything to workers as the suspects drove her from ATM to ATM.

“They actually took my car and took me to the bank,” the victim said in a 911 recording released Thursday. “I had to go to a bunch of ATMs. Then they got out at the Delhi Kroger and somebody picked them up. They told me not to look, and I didn’t look because I was so afraid.”

The suspects got away with her money when the robbery was complete, but police believe they may be able to find at least one of them using surveillance video captured during one of their ATM visits.

WCPO

"He's pretty distinguishable,” Malacuso said. “He has a scar above his eyebrow and he has a yellowish bruise on his eye, so we're asking the public if anyone recognizes the indivudual. Although he's wearing a mask, that scar might stand out to them.”

Anyone with information about the crime or either of the suspects should call 911.

Four Iranian nationals have been charged in an alleged plot to kidnap a U.S. journalist and human rights activist living in New York, court documents show.According to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in a New York federal court, Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, aka Vezerat Salimi and Haj Ali, 50; Mahmoud Khazein, 42; Kiya Sadeghi, 35; and Omid Noori, 45, all of Iran, conspired to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist critical of the Iranian regime.The four were charged with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud and money laundering, according to the indictment. They are based in Iran and remain at large, authorities said."As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime's autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim's fate would have been uncertain at best," US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss said in a news release.A fifth person, Niloufar "Nellie" Bahadorifar, was also charged with sanctions violations conspiracy, bank and wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and structuring charges for allegedly providing financial services that supported the plot, according to the attorney's office.Bahadorifar, a California resident originally from Iran, was arrested on July 1 in California and arraigned on July 8, prosecutors said. Her attorney Martin Cohen declined to comment.Masih Alinejad, an activist with more than 5 million followers on Instagram, said she is the journalist targeted in the plot. Authorities released the indictment and did not name Alinejad publicly.Speaking to CNN on Wednesday morning, Alinejad said the FBI approached her about eight months ago and said her house was not safe."And I was like, you must be kidding me because I receive daily death threats, what's new? I'm here in America, they cannot do anything," she said. The FBI then revealed photos of her "private life" allegedly taken by private investigators at her home, and she said she was shocked the Iranian government got close to her "and then I took it serious."She was under FBI protection until now, she told CNN, adding that she was in different safe houses for her protection. Still, she said she would not stop her activism, in which she shares photos and videos of "voiceless" Iranian mothers protesting the regime."Not at all, you know why? Because these mothers are my heroes. Millions of Iranians who share photos and videos of themselves practicing their civil disobedience, those are the Rosa Parks of Iran," she said. "They are my heroes. To be honest, I have fear inside me, but what gives me power, these people. I am going to stop my activities the day when the Iranian people stop saying no to the Islamic Republic."She also posted a video to Twitter on Tuesday that shows a law enforcement vehicle with its top lights on outside what she says is her home. She speaks in Farsi but the video includes English subtitles."The police have been around my home for the past two weeks now. When I asked them why they were here, they told me it was to protect me," said Alinejad, according to the English subtitles. "They are here from 5 a.m. to midnight.""I see them often, even when I get out to check on my flowers in my garden. But it imbues me with a feeling of safety when I see the police protect me. This wouldn't have happened in my homeland. It's a weird feeling," she said.Before the alleged kidnapping plot, the indictment said, the government of Iran tried to lure Alinejad, referred to as Victim-1 in the indictment, by having her relatives who lived in Iran invite her to travel to a third country, with the apparent purpose of having her "detained and transported to Iran for imprisonment."Her relatives did not accept the offer, prosecutors said in their statement.According to the indictment, Farahani, an Iranian intelligence officer who resides in Iran, and his network, allegedly hired private investigators, "to surveil, photograph and video record Victim-1 and Victim-1's household members in Brooklyn" on multiple occasions in 2020 and 2021.Farahani's network procured days' worth of video and photographs and installed a live high-definition video feed of the victim's home.The intelligence network also researched ways to transport Victim-1 out of the US and to Iran, prosecutors said. Sadeghi allegedly researched a service offering military-style speedboats and researched travel from New York to Venezuela, which has friendly relations with Iran.According to officials, Farahani's network has targeted other victims in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates."This is not some far-fetched movie plot. We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a U.S.-based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran. Not on our watch," FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said. "When we find you, you will be brought here and held accountable under U.S. law."Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh called the allegations "baseless and ridiculous," the semi-official news agency ISNA reported."This is not the first time that the United States has undertaken such Hollywood scenarios," he said.The U.S. State Department said that "the Iranian government continues to deny Iranians their human rights, including through severe restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of expression.""The Biden administration will continue to call out and stand up to Iran's human rights abuses, and will support others who do so both here and in Iran," a spokesperson said in a statement.CNN's Mirna Alsharif, Jennifer Hansler, Eric Levenson, Sharif Paget, Mostafa Salem and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.