KIRKWOOD, Mo. — A missing girl from North Carolina was found in Kirkwood Wednesday evening after police spotted a suspiciously parked car.
Officers in North Carolina said the girl was in the car with Christopher James Porter, a 30-year-old Oklahoma man. They said he is a convicted sex offender who drove across the country to help the girl run away from home.
St. Louis County prosecutors on Thursday charged Porter with two counts of second-degree statutory rape and one count each of sexual exploitation of a minor and possessing child sexual abuse images.
In a Facebook post, the Monroe, North Carolina, Police Department said Porter met the girl through anonymous social messaging apps. They said the girl mentioned wanting to run away, and Porter encouraged her to follow through with it and picked her up from her home on Oct. 13.
Footage from the family's security camera was the last sign of her until she was found this week.
Kirkwood police said they spotted a car parked in a strange spot on the parking lot of the Lowes and Walmart on South Kirkwood Road Wednesday evening. Officers approached the car to talk to the person inside when they found the girl.
Kirkwood police said the girl came to Missouri with Porter and has been traveling with him since she went missing almost two weeks ago.
The 12-day community search for the missing girl included billboards featuring the girl's image. The Monroe Police Department post said the girl's parents flew to Missouri Wednesday night to be reunited with their daughter.
Porter was being held at the St. Louis County Justice Center on a $500,000 bond.
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