Body cam video shows the moment a 16-year-old girl from Gastonia was found in Florida with a 37-year-old Joshua Magraff, who investigators said she somehow met in Charlotte.
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She’s finally back in her Gastonia home after traveling 500 miles all the way to Crescent City, Florida, and federal agents have joined the investigation.
“Young lady, you wouldn’t happen to have your ID on you, would you?” the officer could be seen on body cam video saying during the traffic stop Sunday night in Crescent City.
The officer didn’t know, at first, that the girl was reported missing from Gastonia, 475 miles away. It’s a seven-hour nonstop drive from city to city.
However, the officer knew something wasn’t right about their story.
“No sir, that’s my little cousin,” said Magraff in the body cam video.
“That’s your cousin?” the officer said. “Here’s the thing. The name she shared didn’t check out.”
“It just doesn’t make sense,” said Maj. David Ussery, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
The officer convinced the girl to write down her real name and they called Gastonia, Ussery said.
“After contacting the mother, the mother never knew who this gentleman was,” Ussery said.
That man was Magraff.
“You are 37 and you are friends with a 16-year-old girl?” the officer said.
Officers fear became concerned that this could be a case of trafficking a minor.
“You could see how comfortable our victim was with this gentleman with this grown man and obviously there has to potential to be some grooming,” Ussery said.
The major said they see a lot of runaways in Florida who seem comfortable but then things change.
“They really don’t know the monster that is deep down inside of these people,” he said.
That is why the sheriff’s office turned to Homeland Security agents to see what happened in the nearly 500 miles between the cities.
VIDEO: Missing North Carolina teen found during Florida traffic stop
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