After searches, missing NC teen found with sex offender 750 miles away from home

Julia Coin
·2 min read
5
Lauren Heath, a 16-year-old who went missing in Indian Trail on Oct. 13, was found safe in Missouri, Monroe Police Department announced on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2023.

An Indian Trail teen last seen leaving her home 12 days ago was found in Missouri, inside a registered sex offender’s car, the Monroe Police Department said Thursday.

Missouri authorities found Lauren Heath, 16, with Christopher James Porter, 30, in a Lowe’s parking lot in Kirkwood, near the St. Louis metropolitan area.

That’s some 750 miles away from her home in North Carolina. She had her mother’s phone number, and police helped contact her parents, according to a police news release.

“I can barely talk,” her father told WSOC before he boarded a plane to Missouri Wednesday night. “My heart is beating out my chest just to know my baby’s been found, located safe.”

Porter previously had been charged with “numerous offenses” in Missouri, Monroe police said, and he is expected to face more as the investigation continues.

Porter met Heath on an anonymous social messaging app and “took advantage of comments she made about stress and wanting to run away,” police said. Porter convinced her to run away, and drove from Oklahoma to Monroe to get her.

The family’s Ring doorbell camera recorded Heath leaving her home with a backpack and tote bag around 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, on the day she was reported missing, police said.

The Porter Ridge High School student had last been seen walking down Seefin Court toward Unionville-Indian Trail Road in Indian Trail’s Glendalough neighborhood, which is about 20 miles southeast of Charlotte.

Billboards with the teen’s face have populated interstate shoulders from Union County to Charlotte’s center city since she was reported missing.

The Monroe Police Department thanked the public and other departments that were “tremendous and immeasurably helpful” in finding Heath. Kirwood police found her “using good old fashioned police work,” said Police Chief J. Bryan Gilliard.

Gilliard asked the public to respect the family’s privacy as they navigate a challenging recovery process.

“Thankful for this school community that supports each other,” her school posted on Facebook Wednesday evening. “So very thankful tonight.”