A man featured on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ has been arrested after his daughters launched a TikTok campaign to track him down, claiming he sexually abused two children.
Davie Albarran, 51, was arrested Sunday evening in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, for sexual battery of a child under 12 years of age and lewd conduct with a child under 12 years of age.
He was caught hiding in a shed after 451 days on the run following a campaign to find him by his daughters Ana and Yaneiry – which racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok – and his appearance on America’s Most Wanted.
Ana and Yaneiry claim that they have been contacted by more victims since the start of their campaign, apart from the two cases he is formally accused of.
Their hunt began in 2022, when his daughters said Albarran disappeared after confronting him and accusing him of assaulting their young female relative.
Davie Albarran was found hiding in a shed Sunday evening and arrested in Polk County
Sisters Ana and Yaneiry were thrilled that their father was featured on America’s Most Wanted, but it took another year before he was caught
Out of frustration over his disappearance, Ana decided to post on Facebook, publicly accusing him of the crimes and asking anyone who had seen him to come forward and help find him.
She wrote: ‘Please share and paint the city with his face. He is on the run and the police are looking for him.”
Over the past year and a half, the sisters have put up billboards, staked out motels, interviewed other family members and even had their father appear on America’s Most Wanted in December 2022.
The videos they shared of their efforts to track him down were viewed hundreds of thousands of times and were picked up by local news stations.
Ana Albarran, now in her 30s, claimed in an interview with WOFL that her father also acted inappropriately towards her when she was young and that dozens of other victims had come forward with similar stories.
They said the whole family wasn’t behind him. The sisters accused some of Albarran’s siblings of helping to hide him and keeping him in their homes.
They repeatedly claimed that they would not allow the alleged cover-up in their family to continue and that they would “believe” the children who came forward.
Ana cries on camera when she finds out her father has been arrested. She and her sister had been gathering support for more than a year to find him
His daughters created and shared coveted posters to distribute across the country and warn other parents
The daughters shared photos of their father and asked if anyone had seen him
The sisters filmed a party video with other family members after finding out he had been caught on Monday
Albarran was featured on America’s Most Wanted, meaning his face was broadcast across the country
When the sisters finally heard he had been arrested, they filmed a party video, with the whole family spraying a bottle of champagne and screaming for joy.
Ana said, “We did it, guys. My father is in prison. After a damn year. Thanks, because if it wasn’t for you, he would never have been found, buddy.’
She told WFTV9 that when she heard the news, “I started screaming. I cried. I was in disbelief.’
Ana and Yaneiry said it was the “greatest feeling in the world,” adding, “We are his karma.”
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the arrest this way: “Well, he made a mistake. (America’s Most Wanted) took him across the country and he came to Lakeland.
“When he came to Lakeland, we received confidential information. They said, ‘Hey, we know where this guy is.’
His two daughters, Ana and Yaneiry, waged a year-long campaign to find and arrest him after he disappeared in 2022.
Police and a police dog followed him to a shed where they confronted and arrested him
Sheriff Grady Judd said Albarran made a “big mistake” when he came to Lakeland
The pair worked with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to secure his arrest
“So we snuck around a backyard on Country Haven Drive just before midnight on Sunday night. Well, it may have been Country Haven Drive, but it wasn’t a ‘refuge’ for him.”
Albarran reportedly tried to evade officers by telling them his name was Jose, but they saw through his ruse and took him into custody.
There is no further information yet on his charges or trial.
In December 2022, Sheriff Marcos Lopez said, “Now is the time to collect this waste. This monster. There is no other way to describe this waste. Arrest him and put him in prison for 100 years.
“Taking away the innocence of children,” Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez said at the time. “He’s a sick man.”