Missing Plant City teen found in South Florida with ‘predator’ she met online: Investigators
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A Plant City area teen has been found safe after investigators say 38-year-old Edward Rodriguez in Broward County lured her away from home. A man is behind bars and a missing Plant City teen has been safely located after law enforcement officers say the pair met on social media, and he convinced her to leave home in the middle of the night. "This is a person who, without a doubt, is a predator and was preying on this young teenager," said HCSO spokesperson Amanda Granit. Broward County deputies arrested Edward Rodriguez and charged him with lewd and lascivious molestation and interference with child custody. Investigators say he met the Plant City teen on a social media site, then convinced her to leave her home at between 1 and 3 a.
m. on Saturday. "She went a step above and beyond to kind of conceal where she was going," said Granit. "She took her mother's phone so that she was unable to call police right away. " The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the unfortunate thing about improving technology is that predators adapt as well.