Family of found Malden girl Nayleiah Spencer said she was lured by people she met online
MALDEN - The family of a missing Malden girl who was found safe said she had been lured by people she met online.
The community of Malden rallied around the Spencer family last week after 14-year-old Nayleiah Spencer went missing.
"Bring her back. That's all I want is for my grandbaby to come back," said Annie Ruth Spencer, Nayleiah's grandmother. "I'm just angry about it that she's not here."
Days after a community prayer vigil which led to a tip called in to police, Nayleiah returned home safe.
"The first day she was found, I did go visit her at the hospital, they just had to do initial evaluations. When I asked how she was, she said she felt safe," said Nayleiah's aunt, Eilakeisha Spencer.
The family claims the young teen was part of online chat communities, including Snapchat and Roblox.
"Unfortunately with my niece, being an introvert and not really being so social by her choice, the internet is where she meets her friends," said Spencer, a licensed mental health therapist. "When you're a teenager your brain's not fully developed. You're not really thinking about this may not be who they are saying who they are but then we have grownups they know that this is a young kid they are talking to."
In 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recorded more than almost 38,000 reports of online enticement.
"From what I see, I could tell it was an adult behind the computer," said Spencer.
Snapchat and Roblox encourage parents to monitor social media use. Snapchat does allow parents to submit confidential reports of concerning interactions directly to the app's Trust and Safety teams.
"Unfortunately these people talking to my niece, or this person talking to my niece, she's not the only one. There's many other young people that they are probably doing the same things to ," said Spencer.
WBZ TV reached out to detectives to ask about any potential suspects and additional details of this case but have not heard back.
