Sixteen-year-old Crystal Allen gave postal worker Ivan Crisostomo a warm hug when she saw him Thursday, but the first time they met, Allen feared for her life.
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Allen's mother Stacy Ohman said her daughter met a "friend" who had lured her to Sacramento, where she found herself trapped in a world of drugs and sex trafficking, KOVR reported.
"I was kidnapped, and held captive, and abused and stuff," Allen said.
One day, she found the opportunity to escape. Allen was inside her captors' car in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood when she heard them discussing a crime. She then jumped out of a car, grabbed one of their phones and ran for her life.
That's when Crisostomo found her.
"I heard this crying when I came out of the vehicle, so I approached her and I asked her. She was afraid, she didn't want to talk," he said.
Eventually, he convinced the terrified teen to call her mother.
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"She was frantic. I didn't know what was going on," Ohman said. "I couldn't even understand her she was so upset and that's when I told her she had to reach out to someone for safety and she gave the phone to Ivan and he instantly kicked into gear and told me that he would save my daughter."
Crisostomo let Allen sit in his postal truck until police arrived on scene.
"He stepped up where a lot of people would have just kept driving down the road. He made a huge positive impact in this young girl's life," said Deputy David Cuneo of Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
Crisostomo said he's just happy Allen is safe.
"The way I see her, she has a wonderful future ahead. She's doing so well. I'm happy. I'm really happy," he said.