(NewsNation) — A Washington teenager who was reported missing nearly a month ago has been found in Michigan with a convicted sex offender.
The teen disappeared from her home and her mother said she believed the girl was with a man she had met online. The teen had been chatting to the man, who was in his 20s or 30s, over social media and chat platforms.
Her mother said she’d taken away the girl’s phone as punishment but had not realized how deep the connection had been and feared her daughter had run off to be with him.
She was found in the company of a 30-year-old man known as Keith online, though police have not released his real name.
Police used a rideshare service ordered for the girl by Keith to lead them to South Haven, Michigan. The girl was uninjured, though police have not said what may have transpired during the time she was with him.
Keith is being charged with kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to comply with the sex offender registry act.