Missing Girl Returned After Online Friend Learns She's Underage
MARLETTE, Mich. (WWJ) - A 15-year-old St. Clair County girl who apparently ran away with a person she met online has been found safe, 200 miles from her home.
Marlette police say Hannah Skakle was dropped off at a women's shelter in Kalamazoo Monday night, after the person she met online found out she was underage and had been reported missing.
"She went missing on the evening of the 26th. She had met a person online and had made arrangements with that person to come and pick her up near her home," Marlette Police Chief Brian McGinnis told WWJ's Beth Fisher. "She was then transported by this person to the Kalamazoo area where she spent several days with this person."
McGinnis said Skakle took several steps to conceal her identity and told her told her new friend, who was not identified as male or female, that she was much older.
"She had bleached her hair, cut her hair to avoid being detected or recognized as being a missing person," he said. "She told us that she told the person that she was 19 years of age. Apparently when they saw the social media posting on Monday, recognized her and obviously saw that she was 15 years of age, they told her that she had to go."
The friend then dropped Skakle off at the women's shelter in Kalamazoo. McGinnis said there's no evidence Skakle was sexually assaulted. She has since been reunited with her family.
Skakle is being "evasive" with detectives, McGinnis said, but she did admit that she had been in contact with the person for nearly two months by using friends' phones at school. He also said it would be "skeptical" to assume the friend is a male.
"We're trying to find out that information at this time," he said. "Once we have the information compiled, we'll turn it over to our prosecutor's office."
Once the person is identified, they could face several criminal charges for accosting a minor. Investigators are hoping a search warrant for the girl's social media accounts, emails and texting apps will reveal some evidence.
"There's some difficulty here with some of the information that we're obtaining, but we'd let our prosecutor's office review that and come up with the appropriate charges," he said.
McGinnis said the incident should serve as a reminder to all parents to be aware of who their children are talking to, especially in this digital age.
"This was a scary situation for everybody involved. She did not have a phone, she borrowed friends' phones to access this social media stuff and try to make contact with this person. So, parents just can't be careful enough," he said. "This could have had a very bad, tragic ending. We're glad it didn't, however it does not stop here. We just need to be more vigilant as parents and as law enforcement as well."
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact police at 989-635-2008.
