A missing Tennessee girl, 14, was left in the woods by a man she met online, sheriff says
HAHNVILLE, La. — A missing 14-year-old Tennessee girl has been found safe in the woods of Louisiana, where authorities say she was abandoned by a man who picked her up from her home after the two met online.
Alexander Materne, 28, brought the girl to his home in St. Rose, Louisiana, on Dec. 23 and had sex, after which the girl revealed her age, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Materne then took the girl to a remote, wooded area in Tangipahoa Parish and left her there with a tent, food and water, authorities said. He then went to Jennings, Louisiana, to spend Christmas with his family, officials said.
Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker said the two met at a gaming platform and made a plan for Materne to drive to her home in Tennessee.
Materne faces numerous charges, including aggravated kidnapping of a child and crimes of human trafficking and carnal knowledge. Jail records do not indicate whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
The break in the case, Sticker said, came when the girl’s parents did their own investigation and tracked Materne to Jennings, Louisiana, where his family lived, about 155 miles west of Materne’s home in St. Rose.
“They were the key to all of this,” Sticker said. “I’m telling you, if they want a job, I will hire both parents as investigators.”
Jennings Police Chief Danny Semmes said his office received a call on Christmas Eve that Materne may have had the girl in Jennings, but when officers checked on the family home they were told he no longer lived there. The next day, police were notified that Materne had shown up at the family home to celebrate Christmas and agreed to an interview with officers.
Authorities said Materne then took detectives to the girl’s location in the woods, about 42 miles (68 kilometers) from his home. She had been there about two days.
‘You can’t make things like this up. It’s a Christmas miracle that she was found safe. This case could have ended badly,” Sticker said.
The girl was transported to a hospital for evaluation and later returned to her family, investigators said.