Relatives of a 17-year-old girl who was found bound and gagged in the back of a car in Southern California on Monday told law enforcement officers they were taking her to a drug rehab center in Mexico, according to California Highway Patrol (CHP).

A witness called the police at around 7 p.m. after seeing a girl tied up in the back of a Toyota Corolla in Carlsbad, about 40 miles north of San Diego, CHP spokesman Officer Kevin Smale said.

CHP officers tracked down the car and stopped it at about 7:20 p.m., Smale said. Investigators determined that the girl’s 67-year-old father and his 21-year-old daughter had abducted her, he added.

Officers said a 17-year-old girl was found bound and gagged in the back of a car in Southern California on Monday.  (CHP)

They told the officers that they were taking to the teen to a drug treatment facility south of the border, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

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Smale told the Union-Tribune that the 17-year-old girl “admitted to using methamphetamine for the past year.”

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Officers took protective custody of the girl, according to the paper.

It was unclear if the father and daughter were arrested. Criminal charges against them are pending, Smale said.