When his daughter was abducted at knifepoint while walking her dog on Christmas, this dad used parental controls to find her

Giovanni Rosales Espinoza is seen in a booking photo. (Montgomery County Sheriff's Office via CNN Newsource)

On a day meant for family and rest, a father’s holiday joy turned to fear in Texas when his 15-year-old daughter didn’t come back from walking her dog, authorities said.

When she was out past the time it normally takes to complete the walk, her parents became concerned, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post.

Distressed, the father turned to parental controls on the teen’s cellphone and tracked her location to a secluded and partially wooded area in Harris County, about 2 miles from their home in Porter – less than 30 miles outside of Houston.

The father followed the location into the woods.

When he arrived, he found his daughter and her dog inside a maroon pickup truck with a partially nude stranger inside.

The father helped his daughter escape the truck and contacted authorities who were able to, with the help of eyewitnesses at the scene, locate the truck and identify the driver as 23-year-old, Giovanni Rosales Espinoza, also from Porter, although the family told CNN affiliate KHOU they didn’t know him.

The teen and her family have not been publicly identified at this time.

The rescue underscores the growing popularity of parental-tracking tools – from smartphone location sharing to dedicated safety apps – as research shows children are getting smartphones at younger ages and more families are turning to these layers for added peace of mind.

An investigation revealed the suspect threatened the victim with a knife, abducting her from the street, according to Montgomery County detectives.

Espinoza was taken into custody without incident and charged with aggravated kidnapping and indecency with a child, according to inmate arrest records.

Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle complimented his deputies and detectives for their work to apprehend Espinoza and assured the community the department is committed to keeping families safe.

“Christmas is a day meant for joy, but this man chose to shatter that joy by targeting a child,” Doolittle said.

Espinoza is currently being held without bond at Montgomery County Jail. It’s unclear if he has an attorney at this time.

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN