Yahoo Lifestyle Girl, 13, who vanished after school found in motel room with 22-year-old man
A missing teenage girl has been found in a motel room with a man police said she met online.
Volusia Sheriff’s Office, in the US state of Florida, were searching for the girl, 13, after she went missing after school on Thursday.
Her grandmother called the police telling them she hadn’t returned home.
Police went to Dollar General, a thrift shop, and spoke to a staff member after a tip-off from a friend of the teen.
The friend also mentioned she was meeting up with a man named Tyler from Orlando and the employee mentioned the girl was waiting for someone to pick her up.
Deputy Royce James asked at several nearby motels using a photo of the teen to try and find her. He noticed at one of the motels someone had checked in under the name Tyler Thompson and he was from Orlando.
Video of deputy finding teen with man
Police released video of Deputy James searching for the girl and finding her after determining what motel room she was in.
He knocks on the door of a room and a man, shirtless, answers the door. The lights are off in the motel room.
The teen approaches the door and hugs the officer. He tries to calm her, telling the girl he’s with the police.
“Go in the bedroom and wait for me for a second,” he says.
Deputy James tells the man to sit and asks his age. He doesn’t answer.
“Are you OK?” he asks the girl.
“Are you hurt at all? You’re not hurt at all? Your stomach hurts?”
Deputy James asks the man again how old he is. He doesn’t answer.
“If I ask you that question again I’m going to lose my f***ing mind,” he says.
“How old are you?”
The man tells the officer he’s 22.
“Oh, you f***** up,” he says.
“You f***** up real good.”
An officer on his radio asks how old the man he is and the deputy tells him: “too old”.
The man was identified as Tyler Thompson, 22, and he was charged with interference with child custody and travelling to meet after using a computer to lure a child. Thompson could face additional charges.
The girl was taken to the Department of Children and Families for a medical evaluation and was given the all clear.
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