Texas man gets 35 years for kidnapping teen who was rescued thanks to "help me" sign in Long Beach

The Texas man who kidnapped a teenage girl and drove her across the United States before she was rescued by locals who saw her "help me" note has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. 

It happened back on July 6, 2023, when prosecutors said that Steven Robert Sablan, 63 of Cleburne, Texas, pulled up alongside the then-13-year-old girl and pointed a gun at her before forcing her into his car. 

Once inside, Sablan began to drive away with the girl inside. 

When he pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping in court last year, Sablan told prosecutors that the girl told him she had a friend in Australia and that he could drop her off at a cruise ship to visit that friend, but that "she had to do something for him first," according to prosecutors. 

While driving her from San Antonio to Long Beach, Sablan repeatedly assaulted the girl. Prosecutors say it happened at least two times along the way. 

Three days after leaving Texas, Sablan parked in Long Beach to use a laundromat, prosecutors said. It was then that the girl, who he left in the car, wrote "Help Me" on a note and held it to the window for people walking by the car to see. 

One of them called police, who responded to the area and found the girl still inside of the car. Prosecutors said she mouthed the word "help" to them upon their arrival. 

Sablan was arrested shortly after. Long Beach police also found a pair of handcuffs and a black BB gun inside of the car, along with the note that the girl had written. 

Prosecutors said that the girl was a reported runaway in San Antonio when she was taken.