A teen girl who is in the U.S. illegally and disappeared from Kentucky in December was discovered in South Carolina being held as a sex slave by another illegal immigrant, police say.

Police in Saluda County, South Carolina, discovered the girl confined in the bedroom of 24-year-old Florencio Gomez Saiche after a tipster told authorities that the 16-year-old missing teen was being held there, WIS Channel 10 reported.

Here a first look at the neighborhood where Saiche was holding the 16-year-old girl. This is the 100 block of Hawks Way in Saluda. @WRDW_WAGT pic.twitter.com/JzuhwJcmgC — Matt Kaufax (@MattKWRDW) February 23, 2018

Investigators said that the kidnapped girl had been able to contact family members through social media apps when her kidnapper was not looking or was out of the home.

Police say that they have suspicions that the teen never tried to contact police about her whereabouts because she is also an illegal alien.

When police confronted Saiche about the missing girl, he denied knowing her. But a search of his mobile home proved the lie to the claim.

“During the investigation, [officers] heard someone else in the residence,” said Saluda County Sheriff John C. Perry. “So, they did a protective sweep of the residence to find out and sure enough located the victim. He used intimidation factors, you know, because of the status of our victim.”

The sheriff’s office noted that illegals often prey on other illegals using their immigration status against them as a way to keep victims from reporting crimes to authorities.

Saiche was jailed without bond and charged with kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.