Real Stories Project

03/16/10: Man, 19, meets 12 year old


WFTV News


Missing Girl, 12, Found With 19-Year-Old Man She Met On MySpace

POSTED: 6:39 am EDT April 11, 2008
UPDATED: 1:16 pm EDT April 11, 2008

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A 12-year-old girl who ran away with a man she met on the Internet was found safe Friday morning, a day after she disappeared. Investigators said she was with the 19-year-old in Quincy, Florida.

Deputies said they were working to get 12-year-old Tiffany Tyson back with her mother. There is a sense of relief, at least for investigators, but the girl's mom is not saying anything.

Investigators in the Quincy area are questioning both the 12-year-old girl and the 19-year-old man about where they have been and what they have been doing.

Sheriff's deputies had been looking for Tyson since she disappeared from her home in Port St. John on Thursday morning. Investigators said she left behind a note that said she was leaving with 19-year-old James Linch, who she had been communicating with through MySpace.

The pair was found around 9:30 Friday morning in Quincy, Florida, outside of Tallahassee. Linch's father apparently called police there after they pulled into his driveway.

Neighbors saw Linch in her Port St. John neighborhood before Tyson took off with him. Earlier Friday morning, just before she was found, Tyson's mom made a plea for her safe return.

"I just want my daughter to come and let her know that I'm not mad at her, just come back," JoAnne Tyson said.

"I'm thinking to myself 19, she's 12. This is not right, he drove a long ways to see this little girl," said neighbor Rod Travis.

Linch is being held in Quincy on charges of interference with a child. He is being held there on a warrant from Brevard County and $50,000 bond. He could face other charges.

Investigators are trying to determine where the pair was and what they were doing in the 20 hours between the time they left Port St. John and were found in the panhandle.