A Florida man has been charged with kidnapping a 13-year-old Utah girl earlier this month and taking her to Wyoming.
Christopher Scott Evans, 25, of Fort Pierce, Florida, was charged in 8th District Court with child kidnapping, a first-degree felony; and harboring a runaway, a class B misdemeanor.
According to a probable cause statement, a check of her home’s security system showed the Roosevelt teen leaving her home at about 5:22 a.m. on March 8.
Police learned that she had been communicating with a man — later identified as Evans — via the Oculus virtual-reality platform for about a month. According to police, at the approximate time the girl left her home, she received a message from Evans: “Waiting.”
Police pinged Evans’ cell phone, according to the probable cause statement, and located both him and the 13-year-old in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Police there found the girl and Evans in a semitruck on March 10 at about 3:40 p.m.
Evans is being held in jail in Laramie County, Wyoming, pending extradition to Utah.