UNADILLA TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Livingston County man has been arrested after keeping a woman captive for over five years.
On Friday, Daryl Lanzon of Unadilla Township was arrested on a multiple-count felony arrest which the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office issued.
Investigators from the Unadilla Township Police Department found that Lanzon isolated a woman from her family for several years. Officials say the woman is at least 20 years younger than Lanzon and was manipulated for many years. Authorities also disclosed that the woman was manipulated into performing sex shows online, and the Livingston County man would collect the proceeds of these sex acts to support their traveling before finally settling down in Michigan.
The Unadilla Township man was said to have befriended the woman on social media.
An investigation into this human trafficking case started in the spring of 2022 when police received a tip. Officials say that Lanzon allegedly threatened to harm the woman if she attempted to escape and tell her story to the police. The Livingston officials say it took the woman years to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline to get help. Officials say that the woman made her escape in 2020.
During an investigation at the Unadilla Township home, a search warrant was executed for the residence, where multiple weapons, computers, cameras, and other related equipment were found. Officials obtained an additional search warrant to examine what was on the electronic files.
Unadilla Township Police have investigated this case with the help of ATF, Homeland Security Investigation, Michigan Intelligence Operations Center (MIOC), Michigan State Police Emergency Services Team, and Pinckney Police.
Below are the charges that are currently against Lanson to the third degree:
- Count of unlawful imprisonment
- Count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation
- Count of human trafficking
- Count of using a computer to commit a crime
Below is a statement from the Unadilla Township Police:
“Human trafficking is known to be a part of the sex trade, but can include all other kinds of forced labor. It is more common than people want to believe. Nobody likes to think it can happen in their neighborhood, or to their friends and family, but it can. Signs of human trafficking include a person being disconnected from friends, family, school, and social activities, pronounced changes in behavior, confusion, signs of mental or physical abuse, acting timid or submissive, being denied food, water, or medication, deferring to someone who seems to control their activities and who they talk to, an a lack of their own personal possessions.”
Unadilla Township Police, May 2023
If you suspect human trafficking, contact police or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888, or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.
Related: More haunting details reveal how ‘serial monster,’ his ‘generals’ ran Michigan sex trafficking ring