A North Carolina teen reported missing last month was found Sunday night with a 37-year-old man during a traffic stop in Florida.
Joshua Magraff was arrested on multiple charges, although he was given a $9,000 bond in Putnam County, a rural county between Gainesville and St. Augustine, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said. It’s not clear if he will face charges in North Carolina.
The 16-year-old girl was reported missing by her mother in North Carolina on February 16. The Florida deputies stopped Magraff for speeding Monday night near Crescent City and asked about his passenger. Magraff initially told them she was his 16-year-old cousin and then just a friend.
“When deputies asked him why he was hanging out with a 16-year-old his story changed to stating he thought she was 19,” the sheriff’s office said.
The girl initially gave deputies multiple fake names and birth dates, including one birth date that made her 12 years old. Concerned for the girl’s welfare, the deputy put her in a patrol car and away from Magraff, and she gave her real name. Deputies then confirmed she had been reported missing.
Multiple news agencies reported that the girl’s mother said she knew Magraff, but the sheriff’s office release on the case plainly says that “The mother stated she did not know Magraff.”
Magraff told the deputies he and the girl had come to Florida “to play gambling games,” and the deputies found $1,900 in counterfeit bills in his car, along with synthetic marijuana, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.
Magraff was charged with interference in child custody, possession of synthetic marijuana, possession of counterfeit money, deliquency of a minor, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The state Department of Children and Families took custody of the teen to arrange reunification with her mother.
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[Featured image: Putnam County Sheriff’s Office]
