Florida girls, 12, 14, drive to Louisiana to meet online predator
Officials in Florida said that a 12-year-old girl stole her father’s car and drove her 14-year-old friend to Louisiana to meet an online predator.
Jade Gregory from Union County was reported missing after driving the Ford Taurus from her parents’ home to visit her friend Khloe Larson and then crossing state lines.
According to reports, the two children had been communicating online with an unknown person and were planning to meet up in Louisiana. Their sudden disappearance triggered a Missing Child Alert, and their pictures were shown on billboards and television screens across several Southern states.
Gregory drove her father’s car all the way from the Gainesville area to Mobile, Alabama. According to authorities, they were not accompanied by an adult on their journey and had left their homes voluntarily.
The girls were later shocked to see their images on a television in an Alabama convenience store and eventually decided to turn themselves in to local police.
The FBI is involved in the shocking case and is investigating a person they believe the two girls were planning to meet.
The children have been safely returned to their families in Florida, police said.
Law enforcement agencies have ramped up efforts to warn parents about the danger of online predators and urged diligent monitoring of their children’s online activities. Authorities are investigating whether the runaways were lured by a possible child sex trafficker.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there were 19,000 reports of child sex trafficking across the nation in 2022.