Missing 15-Year-Old Metro Detroit Girl Found With Sex Offender In Tennessee
FARMINGTON HILLS (WWJ) - A 15-year-old Center Line girl and a 36-year-old convicted sex offender have been found in Tennessee after police say they ran away together.
The FBI and Farmington Hills police asked the public too keep an eye out for Shelby Grech, who was last seen at the Knights Inn at 10 Mile Road and Grand River Saturday night with Timothy Fulgenzi of Farmington Hills.
Police say Fulgenzi — who was dating the teen's biological mother — is a convicted sex offender who hasn't complied with the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.
"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."
Grech's guardian — her great-aunt, Theresa Texas, who adopted her as a baby — told WWJ that Grech 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.
Family members called the police on Fulgenzi, Texas said, and the biological mother found out about it.
"While the police are on their way there to arrest this guy, his quote girlfriend, Summer, calls him on the phone, starts screaming at him and says 'the swear word cops are on their way,'" Texas said. "He took my daughter and he left."
Texas said she was worried the teen was danger because, she said, Fulgenzi had been abusive to his girlfriend in the past.
Koehn said the pair was found by police at a Subway restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee, Monday afternoon, where Fulgenzi was arrested.
Koehn said Fulgenzi, through social media, had learned the authorities were looking for him so he called police to turn himself in.
"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."
Koehn said Grech was unharmed. She will remain in the care of police until Texas arrives to pick her up.