North Carolina girl, 4, reunited with dad after being found in known human trafficker's home in Texas

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- A 4-year-old found inside a known human trafficker's home in Texas has been reunited with her father in Fayetteville.

Her mother is facing charges.

"She went from being in a home and not knowing anybody and being held in police custody," said Mario Recinos, Aubriana's dad.

For a little girl who went through so much, Aubriana had a huge smile, infectious laughter and lots of kisses for her dad.

"Just reassuring her that she has a loving home," Recinos said.

Twenty-one days and 20 sleepless nights; that's how long the 4-year-old had been gone. On July 8, police pleaded with the public for information after Aubriana and her mother, Carmen Lowe, mysteriously went missing.

"Her possibly being dead was always there. We understood the severity, the family always understood the severity of the situation," Recinos said.

But it wasn't until last Thursday that police announced the possibility of Aubriana being in danger. By Friday morning, FBI agents found Aubriana inside a human trafficker's home in Texas.

"She was being held by the pimp, the family of a pimp. Basically, she was being held by the person Carmen was working for," Recinos said.

Aubriana's mother is being held in New Orleans where she faces prostitution and theft charges. She'll return to Fayetteville in September where she'll go before a judge on charges of violating custody orders.

Recinos told ABC11 he and Lowe ended their relationship two years ago.

"Someone who got addicted to drugs and from there things started changing," Recinos said.

Aubriana's rescue was the outcome that the family of Shaniya Davis so desperately prayed for. In 2009, the 5-year-old's mother sold her to Mario McNeill who's now on death row for Shaniya's rape and murder.

"Did I feel like we could've had a similar result? Absolutely. That was a big fear," Recinos said.

The Recinos family is thankful that Aubriana is home. From the outside, the 4-year-old is seemingly back to her playful self but Mario Recinos said she has a long way to go.

"We have to take her to therapy and get her back to normality process," he said.