EMMET COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A girl who ran away from her West Virginia home is safe after police found her with a sex offender in Michigan.
Michigan State Police troopers in Gaylord were contacted on Wednesday evening by police in West Virginia, who told them they had reason to believe the missing girl was with a registered sex offender in the Petoskey area. MSP did not share the age of the girl, but according to the Beckley Police Department in West Virginia, she is 16.
MSP troopers obtained a search warrant and searched the Petoskey home of a 26-year-old man. During that search, they found the missing teen.
Police said the man, who has a previous conviction of criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 13, told police he knew the girl was reported missing and was letting her stay with him.
The man was arrested and taken to the Emmet County Jail, while police are coordinating to get the girl back home. Investigators are still working to figure out how the girl met and ended up with the man.
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