FBI Agents Look For 'Evidence' Along I-275; Might Be Related To Farmington Hills Sex Offender Case
FARMINGTON HILLS (WWJ) - About a dozen FBI agents were searching through the grass along I-275 Thursday in Farmington Hills, reportedly for evidence that could be connected to the case of a sex offender accused of abducting a 15-year-old girl.
The FBI confirmed to WWJ that federal agents were out along the freeway, near 9 Mile Road, but would only say that they were assisting local authorities in an investigation.
Sources say the agents are looking for evidence discarded along the freeway that might be connected to Timothy Fulgenzi, a 36-year-old Farmington Hills man who was arrested after being found in Tennessee with a missing 15-year-old Center Line girl.
Fulgenzi is being transported back to Michigan by U.S. Marshalls, and is expected to be arraigned in Detroit Friday on federal charges. Investigators are still working with the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office to determine if any state charges will be brought against Fulgenzi.
Police say the 15-year-old girl was reported missing after she was seen leaving a Knights Inn hotel in Farmington Hills with Fulgenzi on Sunday night.
Fulgenzi — who was dating the teen's biological mother — is a convicted sex offender who hasn't complied with the Michigan Sex Offender Registry, according to police.
"The guardian had prohibited her from having any contact with him or being at the Knights Inn and another relative had learned she was there, and that's when she called us," said Farmington Hills Assistant Police Chief Matt Koehn. "When we arrived they were gone from the scene."
The teen's legal guardian is her great-aunt, Theresa Texas, who adopted her as a baby. Texas told WWJ that the girl developed an infatuation with Fulgenzi and told a cousin that she planned to run away with him to get married in October when she turns 16.
Koehn said Fulgenzi, through social media, had learned the authorities were looking for him, so he called police to turn himself in on Monday afternoon. Police traced the phone call to a Subway restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee, on Monday afternoon, where the pair was located and Fulgenzi was arrested.
"They were together," Koehn said. "He told us on the phone that they had separated on Saturday and that she was not with him. However, when the Lebanon, Tennessee, police department got there they were both together."
The teen has since returned to Michigan, according to reports.