BARTON

PROVIDENCE –– A 16-year-old girl from the Dorchester section of Boston who’d been missing since February was found Monday in a basement apartment in South Providence with a man wanted for escaping from prison in Boston.

The mystery of her whereabouts was nearly solved by chance five days ago, when a patrolman found the teenager bleeding and incoherent at the same apartment at 593 Prairie Ave. She said her “boyfriend” had punched her in the face after her shift as an exotic dancer at Cheaters strip club, according to a police report. The boyfriend had taken off.

Although Patrolman Jared Stanzione stayed with her at the hospital and questioned her about the assault, the teenager gave him a fake name and said she was 20, said Lt. George Stamatakos.

It wasn’t until afterward, when the FBI contacted the Providence police and asked for help finding the girl, that the police realized who she really was –– a missing girl, believed to be suicidal and held against her will, according to a police report.

Questions about how the girl came to Providence, and what she was doing with 40-year-old Michael Barton, weren’t answered by authorities from the Providence police and the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday. FBI Special Agent Gail A. Marcinkiewicz said the investigation was ongoing.

The FBI credited her recovery to the Providence police and the Northeast Innocence Lost task force, an investigative group of federal agents, the Massachusetts State Police, Boston police and Malden police that targets those who prostitute children.

On a national level, the Innocence Lost initiative has found 727 children since its inception in 2003, according to the FBI. The task force’s investigations have led to lengthy sentences for pimps of children, including life in prison. Marcinkiewicz wouldn’t comment on Barton’s relationship with the girl.

The Innocence Lost task force became involved in the girl’s case in April, Marcinkiewicz said, but hadn’t known where she was for sure until Monday, when the investigation led law enforcement directly to the basement apartment.

The teenager was there. This time, so was Barton. Although both gave the police false names, their true identities were quickly discovered.

The girl was sent to the Rhode Island Training School on a warrant from Quincy, Mass., for larceny.

Barton was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of heroin and as a fugitive from justice. He was wanted by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections for escaping from the Boston pre-release center on March 4; he’d been serving a five-year sentence for drug distribution and firearm violations.

Stamatakos said the police are investigating the underage girl’s involvement at the strip club.

amilkovi@projo.com