Missing 14-year-old had been living in a tent with help from mom’s ex, MN cops say
A 14-year-old girl missing for two months was found safe, leading to charges against the ex-boyfriend of the girl’s mom, Minnesota authorities say.
Police in Forest Lake say the 36-year-old man helped the teen navigate life being homeless. He was charged with a felony count of deprivation of parental rights, causing a child to be a runaway, court records show.
The teenager was described as a runaway after leaving her Forest Lake home May 19 on a bicycle. She was not heard from for months, police said.
She left a note for her mother, telling her she was traveling with her boyfriend. But the mother was unaware her daughter had a boyfriend, the mother said in a Facebook post.
The “boyfriend,” her mom determined, was her own ex-boyfriend who she says had been “grooming” her daughter, according to the post.
A week after the girl went missing, the man told police he taught the 14-year-old how to dumpster dive “and how to live as a homeless person,” according to court documents. The investigation revealed he had been in contact with the girl since she went missing, police said.
Police said he had two cellphones, one of which the girl had in her possession. Officers monitored the location of the phone and tracked it to a property in Pokegama Township, about 45 miles north of Forest Lake, according to court records.
The girl was found Friday, July 21, “hiding in a closet in the residence with her hair in front of her face,” police said. She was healthy and cooperating with officers, the Forest Lake Police Department said Friday.
The home was owned by the man’s friends, who let the girl stay “in a tent in the woods behind the property,” according to Forest Lake officers. An extension cord ran from the home to the tent, police said.
Food, a bed and $2,590 cash were found in the tent, investigators said.
When the mom’s ex-boyfriend was arrested, he admitted to helping the girl for two months, police said. He is in custody in the Pine County Jail.
The homeowner told police “she thought she was doing a good thing by letting her stay in a tent in the woods” because she was told the girl had been physically abused at home, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators did not note any evidence that supports claims the mother had been abusing the girl.
The mom said the grooming behavior began as she was dating and living with the man, and it continued after they broke up in March.
The mother said the girl was “entirely blameless in this situation.”
Forest Lake is about 30 miles northeast of Minneapolis.
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