Missing 12-Year-Old Girl Found in Ohio with 34-Year-Old Man She Met Online After Telling Dad to Stop Searching
The search for a missing 12-year-old girl from Georgia has concluded after she was found 10 hours away in Ohio with a 34-year-old man she met online.
The girl had allegedly told her father to stop looking for her because she wasn’t coming home.
According to multiple news outlets, Maria Gomez-Perez, of Gainesville, Georgia, was last seen on May 29 in her driveway. She was found on July 25 in Ohio with Antonio Agustin-Ailon, a man from Guatemala.
At a press conference on July 26, police initially stated that Agustin was 31 years old, but later confirmed he was 34, according to Ohio jail records.
Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch announced that Maria was found “safe and OK” in Ohio after being missing for nearly two months. She had been communicating with Agustin online prior to her disappearance.
Authorities believe Maria had been in contact with Agustin on Facebook and other online platforms. Sheriff Couch stated, “Maria had indicated that she was unhappy and wanted to leave home.” She had also communicated similar information to other adult men online.
Sheriff Couch emphasized, “Maria is the victim here. Remember she is only 12 years old.”
While the specific charges against Agustin were not disclosed at the press conference, police indicated that he would face several felony charges in both Georgia and Ohio for transporting a child across state lines.
The investigation revealed that Agustin allegedly drove from Ohio to pick up Maria from Gainesville, Georgia, on May 29. Police believe she had been with him at his Ohio home the entire time she was missing.
A breakthrough in the case came when Maria messaged her father, Andres Gomez, on Facebook, asking him to stop searching for her. She had created a new Facebook account solely for this purpose. In the message, she assured her father that she was alright and would not be returning home.
The father alerted authorities, who traced the IP address of the message to Dover, Ohio. There, they found Agustin with Maria at a local swimming pool.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Department, in collaboration with the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Agustin in a shopping center parking lot and safely rescued Maria.