Search For Missing LI Teen Could Have Ended In Tragedy: Police

PATCHOGUE, NY — The high-tech search for a 15-year-old special needs boy from Long Island who left the state with a 20-year-old man he met playing the online game Minecraft could have had a tragic ending, acting Suffolk County police Commissioner Stuart Cameron told reporters during a news conference at police headquarters Thursday.

The boy, who has not been identified, was found unharmed after he was tracked down in an extensive search — involving multiple law enforcement agencies across state lines — to a rest stop in Montgomery, Virginia. He was found early Wednesday morning sleeping in a vehicle with the man, who is from Tennessee, police said.

When asked about what he thinks could have happened, Cameron said, “I think it was extremely dangerous. It could have ended tragically.”

Cameron said the department is not releasing the boy’s identity or his place of residence at the request of his parents, who want to maintain their privacy.

The boy is on his way back from Virginia, he said.

The 20-year-old man, whose identity is being withheld pending his return to Suffolk, is being held by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and he will be picked up by detectives on Friday.

He will likely be charged with second-degree kidnapping, a felony, and once he is formally charged, he will be publicly named, Cameron said.

The motivation of the suspect, who does not have any prior convictions, is not yet clear, said Cameron, who repeated himself, saying the scenario of a 20-year-old taking a 15-year-old away from his home is “extremely dangerous.”

Cameron said the boy’s parents describe him as a homebody who does not leave the house, and they were “absolutely frantic” when he went missing. “The parents are extremely grateful for the work of the police department in so rapidly bringing the child home to them without any great harm done to him,” he added.

The boy had told his parents that he was going to get some ice cream and left his home on his bicycle at about 3:30 p.m., and when he did not return they called 911, said Cameron, adding, “immediately, a large extensive search was undertaken.”

The search included detectives from the 5th Squad, a K-9 unit, a helicopter, and the department’s Computer Crimes Section began probing the teen’s online activities to give them a better idea of where he might be, according to Cameron. They found that he had partially disassembled his computer “to make it a little more difficult” for investigators, and he could have been coached into doing that, he said.

“Although he is special needs, he is highly functional, and he may have realized this would assist them,” Cameron added.

Cameron said the issue at hand is that even though the boy went willingly, he did not have the authority to do so given his age.

In their investigation, they found that he had met the 20-year-old man online playing Minecraft and began corresponding in the private chatroom of an app, Cameron said. He said it is not clear how long they were corresponding, but “we should be able to get that.”

Investigators found the boy “made an effort to hide his bike,” and joined the 20-year-old in the area of the ice cream shop, Cameron said. He would not disclose its name or location.

“As part of the search, the detectives went out and they were doing a very extensive video canvas along the route that they would have expected this 15-year-old boy to take to the ice cream store, knowing that he took a back route to the store, but we were still able to recover relevant video of him traveling to the ice cream store,” Cameron said.

Once investigators learned the pair were headed out-of-state, Suffolk reached out to their law enforcement partners for assistance.

“There was an extensive effort put in to locate them,” he said. “We utilized a variety of techniques, good old fashioned detective work; we utilized a variety of technology. Some of that technology I am going to refrain from discussing because in the future — if we discuss it now — if someone likeminded is willing to do something like this, and we talk about every effort we use to try to find someone, it will enable them to better cover their tracks and make it more difficult for our police department or another police department to find them in the future.”

Cameron said he gives the 5th Squad a “tremendous amount of credit” in rapidly locating the boy, who was only missing about 10 hours.

Detectives believe the suspect knew what he did was “unlawful, based on the techniques that he used, the way he took this child away,” Cameron said, adding, “he was looking to cover his tracks.”

He advised parents that they should be aware of who their children are communicating with online and how “because they really can be communicating with anyone.”

The investigation is ongoing, police said. Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the 5th Squad at 631-854-8552.