Missing Tampa Bay 13-year-old girl found with Broward County man she met online, authorities say
TAMPA, Fla. — A Broward County man was arrested and charged after authorities said he was with a 13-year-old Tampa Bay girl who went missing over the weekend after meeting him online.
According to CBS News affiliate WTSP in Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday that Edward Rodriguez, 38, is now facing one count of interference with child custody. With the help of the Broward County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals, the child had returned home.
"We are immensely grateful that this young girl has been found," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement to WTSP. "I want to extend my deepest thanks to the Broward County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals for their quick and effective support. Our joint efforts have brought a young girl home to her family, and that is what truly matters."
The incident
Around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Rodriguez drove to a disclosed location in Hillsborough County to pick up the girl and brought her to his apartment in Cooper City — approximately four hours away from her home in Plant City — according to arrest documents obtained by CBS News Miami.
At the time, the girl was reported missing by her mother and WTSP reported that she was listed as an "endangered missing juvenile" and a missing child alert was activated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the time of her disappearance.
Hillsborough County detectives then tracked down the girl in Cooper City at Rodriguez's apartment.
According to arrest documents, Rodriguez met the teenage girl on Discord, a messaging app used by gamers. There, "he built a relationship over the course of several months" and messaged her multiple times since April.
The girl reportedly told authorities that she and Rodriguez had planned to "run away together and live in his apartment together forever." The girl also told authorities that she was planning to no longer go to school and that Rodriguez planned for her to be "homeschooled to obtain her GED," arrest documents stated.
The girl then told authorities that she had been at Rodriguez's apartment for at least three days until BSO deputies found her on Tuesday.
The girl also said that Rodriguez told her that "there [were] consequences to them planning to run away together" and that there were laws against "harboring a minor runaway," arrest documents stated. The girl also told authorities that Rodriguez even tried to cancel on her "multiple times" but she was able to eventually convince him to "pick her up and take her away."
According to arrest documents, Hillsborough County detectives were able to find multiple messages between the girl and Rodriguez on her laptop at her home. Some of the exchanges included Rodriguez expressing to her that "he likes her as more than just friends" and that he was going to lock her in his basement so that no one could take her away.
Before going through more of the messages, detectives showed the exchange with the girl and she confirmed that the messages came from Rodriguez. In other messages, Rodriguez told the girl that "he loved her" and would call her "baby," and said that he "could not stand the thought of losing" her, the arrest documents stated.
According to arrest documents, the girl denied multiple times that she and Rodriguez were in a sexual relationship but admitted that he had kissed her a few times on the mouth, cheeks and neck while she was with him in the apartment. She also admitted that she and Rodriguez would hug her and caress her arms.
Arrest documents also stated that she was "protective" of Rodriguez and told authorities she was afraid that "something bad would happen" to him because he was "initially nervous" about picking her up. She also told authorities that she was protecting him, arrest documents stated.
A warrant for Rodriguez's arrest was drafted by Hillsborough County for the previously mentioned charge. While in BSO custody, he invoked his Miranda rights and refused to speak with BSO regarding the incident. Rodriguez was then taken to BSO Main Jail and charged for his crime.
Editor's Note: CBS News Miami had originally identified the name of the teenage girl. After learning the nature of the alleged crime, CBS News Miami has since redacted her name out of respect for her privacy and safety.
