Police warn parents after missing 13-year-old from Massachusetts found with 30-year-old Florida man

Police in Massachusetts are issuing a warning after a missing child was recently found with a man she met online.

According to police, on Saturday, Chicopee Police took a report of a missing 13-year-old juvenile.

Throughout the course of the investigation, police learned the juvenile had been speaking to a 30-year-old adult male from Florida. This adult proceeded to drive to Massachusetts, pick up the juvenile in the middle of the night and take the juvenile to a local hotel. The juvenile was located at this hotel with the suspect and was reunited with family.

The suspect was arrested and is facing numerous serious felony charges. No specific details about the victim, suspect, or specific charges were released by police due to the sensitivity of these circumstances.

Police highly encourage parents/guardians to take an active role in monitoring your children’s social media accounts.

• Have frequent conversations about staying safe on the internet and talk to your kids about not giving personal information out to strangers.

• Know who your kid’s online friends are

• Teach your kids to keep their location private

• Use parental controls

• Make sure your kids know they can talk to you

• Encourage your kids to never send pictures of themselves over the internet, you never know who the real person is that they are talking to

• Advise your kids to never accept friend requests from people they do not know

• Have a contract with your children that allows you access to monitor their social media accounts to encourage safely enjoying the internet

• Monitor their social media accounts for any suspicious activity, including any direct messages

• Avoid applications that have disappearing messages