Runaway teen's location traced through Flock license plate reader, store security camera
A 14-year-old girl who ran away from home in Monroe County, Michigan, was located through the use of security cameras and a license plate recognition system, local deputies reported.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Monday that they got a call from a Frenchtown Township family on Friday after the 14-year-old was discovered to have run away. The family was able to provide her last known location as the Meijer store on North Telegraph Road in Frenchtown Township.
With that information, deputies worked with Meijer employees to locate video images of the teenager along with an unknown male, and also the vehicle they left the parking lot in.
Deputies then used the Flock safety camera system, which has license plate readers active in Monroe County, to locate the vehicle involved. They learned that the vehicle's registered owner drives for a ride-sharing service.
Officers eventually were able to learn where in the City of Monroe the two passengers were dropped off.
Since that time, deputies located both the adult man and the teenage girl. He was charged and taken into custody on a charge of harboring a juvenile runaway, the sheriff's office said. His name is being withheld by deputies, pending formal court arraignment.
The teenager has, in the meantime, been returned to her family.
Anyone who has information that can assist deputies in the investigation is asked to contact Monroe County Central Dispatch at 734-243-7070 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 800-SPEAK-UP.