Paulding County investigators have not determined whether a 13-year-old girl left on her own with a man she met online. But they’re thankful the pair was found during a middle Georgia traffic stop, police said Tuesday.
The girl, whose name was not released, was reported missing from a friend’s house Sunday morning following a sleepover, according to Cpl. Ashley Henson with the Paulding Sheriff’s Office. The girl’s family told police she had befriended an 18-year-old man on the internet, and that she could possibly be a kidnapping victim, Henson said.
Emergency operators issued an alert to help find the girl, and deputies alerted neighboring jurisdictions, Henson said.
Later Sunday night, a Twiggs County deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger on I-16, southeast of Macon. Inside the Charger was the 13-year-old girl and the 18-year-old, Keith Alan Dubel, of Fort Pierce, Fla., Henson said.
“Once he (the deputy) began speaking with the two individuals, he could tell that they were extremely nervous and he smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the passenger compartment of the vehicle,” Henson said in an emailed statement. “After he continued to speak with them, he knew the two had something to hide.”
The girl admitted to the trooper she had left home and that the two were headed to Florida, according to police. Her parents were notified and drove to Twiggs County to pick her up.
Dubel was arrested and charged with a window tint violation, impeding the flow of traffic and possession of marijuana less than one ounce, Henson said. Additional charges are possible when Dubel is returned to Paulding County.
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