Missing Forest Lake girl was living in a tent, police say. Isanti County man charged.

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·4 min read
18

A missing Forest Lake girl who was found safe on Friday spent the last two months living in a tent in a wooded area in Pine County, Minn., according to a criminal complaint filed against a man who allegedly helped her.

The man, Shawn

, 36, of Dalbo, faces a felony count of deprivation of parental rights, causing a child to be a runaway, in Pine County District Court.

The girl, 14, had been missing since leaving her home in Forest Lake around 8:30 a.m. May 19. She left on her bicycle that had a yellow bike trailer attached to it and took her cat and $3,000 in cash from her babysitting money, according to the criminal complaint. She left a note saying she was going to “traveling around the United States with her boyfriend,” her mother told the Pioneer Press in June.

She was “found healthy” and is cooperating with investigators, Forest Lake police said Friday.

Bellach, who was charged on Monday, allegedly knew the girl’s mother and agreed to help her run away to a home belonging to friends of his in Grasston, Minn., according to the complaint. Bellach told his friends that the girl was abused at home, the complaint states, and the friends agreed to let her stay in a tent on the property temporarily.

Contacted police in May

Bellach contacted the Forest Lake Police Department on May 26, a week after the girl’s disappearance, and “provided details of his displeasure for (the mother’s) parental skills and information on how he taught (the girl) to dumpster dive and how to live as a homeless person,” the complaint states.

Investigators from the Forest Lake Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension discovered messages exchanged between Bellach and the girl through a social-media app, according to the complaint, and were able to determine that two cell phones – a Samsung and a Motorola – had been newly connected to his email account.

Investigators with the BCA “monitored the live location of the Motorola phone and found that between July 20th and July 21st, the phone location was approximately 2,278 meters from an intersection in Pokegama Township, Pine County,” the complaint states.

Using cell-phone tower locations and information from Facebook, investigators were able to determine the location of the property where the girl was staying. Officials executed a search warrant on Friday and found the girl “hiding in a closet in the residence with her hair in front of her face,” the complaint states.

Investigators located the tent on the property by following mowed paths, including some that went through wetlands, according to the complaint.

“An extension cord ran from (the house) to the tent,” the complaint states. “In the tent, agents located $2,590 in currency. They also located (the girl’s) cat … a clothesline with clothes drying, and a makeshift toilet. The tent had a double bed and numerous food supplies. (The girl’s) boots were in the tent, as well as a large pair of men’s black boots.”

Bellach was arrested at the scene and taken to the Pine County Jail in Pine City. Bail was set at $40,000.

Property owner thought ‘she was doing a good thing’

The woman who owns the property told police that Bellach would visit the girl, and that she thought “she was doing a good thing by letting her stay in a tent in the woods,” the complaint states. No charges had been filed against her or her husband as of Tuesday morning, a spokeswoman for the Pine County Attorney’s office said Tuesday.

The girl’s mother did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. A post on the mother’s Facebook page said she and Bellach had been in a relationship and lived together, but broke up in March 2023.

“Evidence suggests that Shawn engaged in grooming behavior towards (the girl), which persisted even after his relationship with (the mother) had ended,” according to the Facebook post. “(The girl) is entirely blameless in this situation. While her mother’s fury is palpable, it is directed solely at Shawn.”

The post concludes: “The family kindly requests respect for their privacy and urges the public to refrain from posing further questions to them.”

Capt. Greg Weiss of the Forest Lake Police Department says the case remains under investigation. He also said the girl’s cat is “safe at a residence in Pine County.”

If convicted, Bellach could face up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.

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