US Girl, 12, Steals Dad’s Car To Meet Online Predator: Time To Address Cyber Crime On Priority

A 12-year-old Florida girl stole her father's car and picked up her 14-year-old companion to meet a predator they were conversing with online in Louisiana, according to the New York Post.

Jade Gregory of Union County and her pal Khloe Larson went missing last week after leaving the state in a Ford Taurus. The girls had been communicating online with an unknown person and agreed to meet him in Louisiana.

Their sudden disappearance prompted a large government hunt, and images of the two youngsters were displayed on billboards and television screens across Southern states, according to the New York Post.

US Girl Steals Dad Car To Meet Online Predator

Jade Gregory drove her father's automobile five hours from Gainesville to Mobile, Alabama. They were not accompanied by an adult, according to the officials. When the girls saw their photographs on television in an Alabama convenience shop, they decided to turn themselves in to local authorities. According to the news outlet, the FBI is looking into a person who the teenagers were planning to meet. They are investigating whether the children were enticed by a sex trafficker. Both girls arrived safely at their homes.

Similar Incident:

A girl and her boyfriend were detained in a similar occurrence in Mumbai, India, when she allegedly handed over her family's jewelry to him in exchange for money to celebrate their shared birthday.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Nilesh Sonawane's statement, the girl attempted to frame another friend of hers, a minor, by accusing him of blackmail in order to safeguard herself and her boyfriend.

Suggested Reading: US Couple Welcomes Baby Girl, First To Be Born In Family In 138 Years

According to reports, the girl filed a complaint on January 7, alleging that her boyfriend had taken inappropriate images of her and blackmailed her for money. As a result, she was forced to take jewellery from her home and give it to him. The boy initially told the police that he had sold the jewellery. The police eventually learned that the girl had delivered the jewellery to her real boyfriend for their birthday celebration and made up the blackmail narrative to protect him.