Denton County man charged with abducting 10-year-old daughter had history of violence

A man was arrested Monday in Denton County roughly eight hours after police said he abducted his 10-year-old daughter and led agencies in a massive overnight search.

The girl was found safe and returned home, authorities said.

William Boerner, of Pilot Point, was charged with kidnapping, according to online Denton County jail records. He’s being held in jail on $500,000 bond.

Jail records show he has been arrested in the past on charges of abandoning or endangering a child as well as assaulting a family/household member. He has been arrested on charges relating to family violence on six separate occasions.

An Amber Alert was issued out of Denton County on Sunday night after Pilot Point police received a call around 6:30 p.m. about an abducted child, Northeast police said in a Facebook post. Several agencies across northeast Texas, including Northeast police, received a description of the suspect’s vehicle and began to keep an eye out for the father and daughter.

A Little Elm police officer spotted the suspect’s vehicle around 2 a.m. near Savannah heading west on U.S. Highway 380, Northeast police said.

The 10-year-old girl was recovered, unharmed, at 2:24 a.m., police said, and Boerner was taken into custody.

The child was “returned safely home,” Pilot Point police said in a Facebook post.

“A huge thank you to our Denton County agencies and dispatch, who showed unprecedented teamwork and brought a quick and positive resolution to this,” the department wrote in the post.

Pilot Point police also shared Northeast police’s post on its Facebook page.

Northeast police posted again on Facebook on Monday saying people shouldn’t be discouraged if they didn’t receive the Amber Alert. The alert system won’t distribute messages to cell phones overnight, police said, and the suspect and victim were found before the message would’ve gone out around 7 a.m.

Boerner has been arrested on a wide range of charges in Denton County, jail records show, from allowing a minor to be in possession of an alcoholic beverage, to possessing drug paraphernalia, to evading arrest.

In 2007 and 2009, he was arrested twice on several charges, both times including assault causing bodily injury to a family member.

In 2012, he was arrested again on several charges, including assaulting a family/household member and impeding breathing/circulation, jail records show. Then, between 2016 and 2017, Boerner was arrested three times on a charge of assaulting a family/household member with a previous conviction.

He has been arrested by several agencies, including the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, Pilot Point police, Lewisville police, Sanger police and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

This story was originally published July 23, 2019 at 11:39 AM.