“Our agency was investigating the disappearance of a 16 year old female. While we were confident that she had left on her own volition, there had been no contact with her by her close friends or family over the week she was missing. We were able to determine through her friends that she had met a complete stranger through social media, and it was likely she was with him. Through records of electronic media, were able to get a possible name and a contact phone number he used in contacting her. His social media pages were generic and provided no assistance in identifying him. After all other outlets: phone companies, ISP providers, social media legal staff, etc., failed us, we ran his name through LeadsOnline. We got a hit right away. Using the information provided to us by LeadsOnline, we contacted authorities in Florida who confirmed by driver’s license number that the Florida license picture was the same person in the social media pages. From there we used utility billing on an address here in Tennessee, two counties away, to locate both the man and the juvenile. This adult individual had met her on social media, packed up and moved from Florida less than two weeks after his first contact with her, and convinced her to go with him. We learned the first thing he did when she joined him was smash her phone. According to her, ‘he said the police can’t find you if they don’t know anything about me and you don’t have a phone to be tracked.” He didn’t think about his history in secondhand businesses. Without the LeadsOnline hit we would still be looking for both of them. She is safe at home and no charges are pending on him yet, because the parents are concerned about the juvenile’s social media actions which led to the events.”
Det. Doug Brannon
Monroe County Sheriff’s Department
Tennessee