Missing 16-year-old girl from Ohio located in Florida with help from video game

Investigators were able to locate a Florida man suspected of bringing a 16-year-old girl across state lines with the help of a video game. 

The FBI sought assistance from a Marion County Sheriff’s Office detective Wednesday to help locate a missing teenage girl from Ohio, according to a social media post by the department. 

The detective was able to track the girl to a residence in Dunnellon, over 70 miles north of Tampa, with help from her World of Warcraft account on the same day deputies were contacted by the bureau. 

The information the detective gathered led them to the residence of a 31-year-old man, who also accessed his online gaming account from that location. 

When the detective arrived at the home, the man denied knowing the girl, later admitting that he drove to Ohio to meet the girl and brought her back to his house. 

He also told the detective that he was in a romantic relationship with the girl, planned on hiding her at his house and make her his wife, the post stated. 

The man showed Discord messages sent between him and the girl that confirmed the plans he made to go pick up the girl in Ohio and “engage in sexual activity despite knowing that he was committing a crime,” according to the post. 

He was arrested and transported to a county jail in the area, where he is being held without bond. 

The man is currently facing three charges, including traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity, interfering with child custody, and sheltering an unmarried minor.

ICYMI:After Utah exchange student cyber kidnapping, we're looking at how the scam works