A kidnapped girl was rescued over the weekend when her kidnapper crashed his car in Ohio, triggering a police response.
The victim, who is only 12, was saved from Virgil Larson, Jr., police explained in a statement.
The single-vehicle crash happened Sunday, April 5, in Hocking County along U.S. 33.
Witnesses to the crash called 911 to report the accident.
Arriving officers spoke with Larson, who they soon learned is a registered sex offender. They also interview the girl who was with him.
When conflicting details were provided by both, deputies did some digging and learned the girl had been reported missing from her home in North Carolina the night before.
Hocking County Sheriff Lanny E. North said that investigators suspect that Larson lured the girl via social media with a fake scenario where he portrayed himself to be a boy around her age.
As part of the scheme, the boy would have his father pick her up and accompany her to a location that wasn’t disclosed to the girl.
After the crash, the victim was taken to an area hospital for evaluation. It was unclear what Larson’s intentions were in kidnapping the child.
Larson, 45, was arrested and booked into the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail and faces charges of kidnapping and resisting arrest. His bond was set at $1 million for the kidnapping charge and $10,000 for resisting arrest.
He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 15. No pleas have been entered on his behalf, and an attorney of record was not listed for Larson.
This year has already seen several kidnappings thwarted in states across the country.
South Carolina man Darrius Gilmore is accused of kidnapping and trying to kill two 15-year-old girls earlier this month. However, one of them found a way to escape and sought help, deputies said. Gilmore, 21, faces two counts of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of possession of a firearm during a violent crime, and discharging a firearm into a vehicle.
A man accused of kidnapping three teenage girls from a North Carolina psychiatric treatment facility was arrested after authorities said they found one of the missing teens, a 13-year-old, inside his car. The teens went missing from the Cornerstone Treatment Facility in Wadesboro on January 19, when police initially said they left the property “without […]
Last month, Kansas authorities said an 8-year-old girl fought off an abductor who had followed her home in Wichita.
And in Los Angeles, also last month, two teen girls managed to survive an attempted kidnapping incident by jumping from the suspect’s vehicle and calling for help.
If you know of a young person who is being exploited or is the victim of a crime, you are urged to report it to your local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be left at tips.fbi.gov
