A North Carolina teen who had been missing for nearly a month was rescued over the weekend from a man’s car in Florida, authorities said.
A deputy discovered the 16-year-old girl inside Joshua Magraff’s car after he pulled Magraff over for allegedly speeding along U.S. Route 17 near Crescent City the evening of Sunday, March 8, according to a Monday, March 9, Facebook post by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
In the post, the sheriff’s office shared body camera footage of the deputy’s encounter with Magraff, 37, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Magraff first told the deputy that the missing teen inside his car was his 16-year-old cousin, according to the sheriff’s office.
However, the girl said she was born in 2013, “which would make her only 12 years-old,” the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy’s concern grew when the girl allegedly gave him false names and different dates of birth, according to authorities.
As a result, he placed the girl in his patrol car, where the 16-year-old confirmed her actual name, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy then learned that the teen was reported missing from North Carolina, according to authorities.
The girl’s mother was contacted and told authorities that she filed a missing persons report for her daughter on February 16, the sheriff’s office said. The woman also said she “did not know Magraff.”
Magraff later told deputies that the girl was his friend, according to authorities. “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.
He also said that they were in Florida to go gambling, according to authorities.
While searching Magraff’s vehicle, deputies discovered 19 fake $100 bills, synthetic and real marijuana, as well as drug paraphernalia, the sheriff’s office said.
Magraff was arrested on charges of interference in child custody, synthetic marijuana possession, possession of counterfeit currency, contributing to delinquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to authorities.
Magraff’s court-appointed public defender did not immediately return a request for comment from Us Weekly on Wednesday, March 11.
The Department of Children and Families ultimately took custody of the teen “until she could be reunited with her mother,” the sheriff’s office said.
Magraff was booked in the Putnam County Jail, where he was being held on a $9,000 bond, according to authorities.
Putnam County is about a 75-mile drive southwest from Jacksonville.
