A missing 16-year-old Ohio girl was rescued at a Florida motel following the arrest of an alleged child sexual predator in what the FBI has been investigating as a kidnapping case, the bureau confirmed Tuesday.
The victim was reportedly found in a hotel room last Friday near Jacksonville, Florida, after she was reported missing from Colerain Township, Ohio, on February 16, according to an exclusive report by Fox News.
According to the outlet:
Investigators identified the suspect as a Tennessee man named Negron, whose charges are currently pending. Agents also determined that Negron had been linked to a separate potential kidnapping in 2024, when he allegedly transported a 17-year-old Texas girl for sexual activity.
While last Friday’s search warrant at Negron’s Tennessee home revealed that the suspect had already fled, law enforcement was able to track his whereabouts and vehicle later that morning to Palatka, Florida.”
After the arrest, the girl was reportedly found safe by agents and local sheriff’s deputies in a nearby hotel room in Palatka, located about 60 miles south of Jacksonville.
Federal officials said charges against Negron are pending, with some evidence still under review.
FBI investigators also discovered during the probe that Negron had been linked to the Texas 17-year-old, as well as being a suspect in two prior incidents involving being barricaded in a dispute with law enforcement, the cable news outlet reported Wednesday.
The local district attorney did not press charges for the 2024 alleged kidnapping incident, according to the outlet.
The suspect’s criminal history also includes local misdemeanor charges of “theft, trespassing, criminal mischief and marijuana possession,” the FBI told Fox News.
The bureau reported that Friday’s arrest was its second successful takedown of an alleged child sexual abuser in just one week. A 7-month-old baby was rescued after the agency learned the infant had been victimized in the production of Child Sexual Abuse Material, now commonly called CSAM by police and child advocates.
FBI Director Kash Patel praised the most recent operation, which was coordinated between multiple field offices along with local police and the bureau’s Hostage Rescue Team.
“Protecting kids against violent criminals has been a top priority of this FBI from the start, and day after day our teams continue to get it done all across this country,” Patel said.
The FBI also told Fox News it met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio on Tuesday to discuss possible federal charges regarding the suspect arrested in Florida.
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets , which documents one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
