Alisa Petrov seen in images released by police (South Jordan Police Department).
Police in South Jordan, Utah, have announced that two men who allegedly communicated with a missing 15-year-old girl have been arrested.
Alisa Petrov was reportedly last seen April 21 after being dropped off at school in American Fork, Utah, but surveillance footage shows that instead of going to class, she got on a train to Provo, some 15 miles away, according to East Idaho News. Authorities claim that three men communicated with her before her disappearance — and all of them are now facing charges.
Miami, Florida, resident Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35 — who is charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation — surrendered Wednesday, officers said. Samuel Mitchell, 41, of Herriman, Utah, is also in custody, for sexual exploitation of a minor and enticing a minor.
A third man, William Taylor Glines, 37, of Texas City, Texas, has also been charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted aggravated exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation, South Jordan police have said. He is currently in the Galveston County, Texas, jail. Glines was arrested May 8, and is being held for online solicitation of a minor, possession of child pornography, and two municipal holds, online jail records show.
Menard and Petrov had discussed meeting in Las Vegas, according to Miami ABC affiliate WPLG. Mitchell, meanwhile, is alleged to have had sexually explicit conversations with Petrov and other minors, including a girl estimated to be 12 years old, and a girl confirmed to be 15, according to documents obtained by CBS Salt Lake County affiliate KUTV. Investigators reportedly did not identify the children.
“We really want her to come back home,” her father, Nikolai Petrov, told KTVX in a May 20 report. “We will not get her in trouble. We want to be a complete family again.”
The Utah Department of Public Safety has described Alisa as standing 5 feet, 3 inches and 122 pounds. She was wearing baggy jeans, a gray “Harvard University” T-shirt, a black hoodie, and a dark school backpack.
Police ask that anyone with information reach out to the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center at 801-840-4000.
