Natalee Cramer, a Texas teenager, has shared her harrowing experience of being abducted and trafficked after attending a Dallas Mavericks NBA game with her father in April 2022. At the time, Cramer was only 15 years old and struggling with anxiety, which she often self-medicated with marijuana and alcohol. During the game, she left her seat to use the restroom and never returned, having encountered her future abductor, 33-year-old Emanuel Cartagena, in the arena’s concourse.
Cramer, who had left her phone behind, was lured by Cartagena under the pretense of smoking marijuana. She was then taken to a house in North Texas, where she was given drugs and subsequently raped. After several days, she was handed over to a different group in Oklahoma. Her father, Kyle Morris, had reported her missing to a Dallas police officer at the arena, but was advised to report her as a runaway to their local police department, located 30 miles away from the game venue.
Cramer had a history of running away from home for various reasons, including seeking attention, love, and drugs, as well as escaping situations she felt she couldn’t control. During the 11 days she was missing, her parents enlisted the help of a private investigator in Houston, who discovered that the traffickers had posted photos of Cramer on an online sex ad. The investigator was able to trace her to Oklahoma City.
Cramer recounted a chilling encounter in a hotel hallway, where she was under the influence and accompanied by men armed with assault rifles. Despite the obvious age difference between her and her captors, bystanders, including a family with small children, did not intervene. Cramer’s family has since filed a lawsuit against the Extended Stay America hotel at the Oklahoma City Airport, where she was held, alleging that the staff either failed to recognize or ignored signs of human trafficking.
Cramer was eventually rescued when an Oklahoma City police officer recognized her from a missing person report. She disclosed to the officer that she had been raped, leading to the arrest and subsequent sentencing of eight individuals involved in the trafficking operation. Cartagena was arrested by US Marshals in January 2023 and charged with sexual assault of a child. However, a Dallas County grand jury decided not to prosecute him based on the evidence.
Reflecting on her ordeal, Cramer expressed feelings of guilt but also acknowledged that not all the choices made were hers. She is now using her experience to raise awareness about the realities of abduction and trafficking, emphasizing that danger often presents itself as a normal conversation until it’s too late. Cramer, who is now sober and working towards her GED, also highlighted the role of mental health issues in her past behavior, noting that she was not in therapy and was self-harming at the time of her abduction.