Detectives from Lake County, Illinois, Sheriff’s office rescued a girl under 14 from a grown man who had traveled from Georgia to meet her this weekend, authorities said Sunday.

At 4:40 a.m. Saturday, Lake County sheriff’s deputies were called to unincorporated Gurnee for a report of a missing girl under the age of 14. Deputies learned the girl had never run away before, and it was especially concerning that she did so in the middle of the night, authorities said.

Sheriff’s detectives learned the girl’s cellphone was not functioning, and she could not be found through any of her electronic devices. Detectives also found that a 24-year-old man from Norcross, Georgia, named Jordy Alexis Fuerte Perez had been communicating with her, authorities said.

Detectives learned that Fuerte Perez had made plans to drive to Illinois from Georgia and pick up the girl, and evidence indicates he told the girl he wanted a “romantic relationship” with her, authorities said.

Detectives homed in on a vehicle that Fuerte Perez may have been driving, and found the vehicle at the Independence Grove Forest Preserve near Libertyville, authorities said. Both Fuerte Perez and the girl were in the car in a parking lot when detectives arrived at 6 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

The girl did not appear to be injured, but was taken to the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center for specialized advocacy and attention, authorities said.

Fuerte Perez was charged with two counts of solicitation of child pornography, and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, namely cocaine. More charges ar likely, authorities said.

“This type of case is a parent’s worst nightmare.  Our Criminal Investigations Division took this case seriously and worked tirelessly from the moment the girl was reported missing until she was safely located,” Lake County Sherif John Idleburg said in a news release. “While there will undoubtedly be a long road to recovery and healing, I am grateful the victim was found safe and is physically okay.  I am proud of everyone who played a role in rescuing this young girl and bringing the offender to the first steps of justice.”

Fuerte Perez was due in court on Sunday morning. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s office is asking to have him held while awaiting trial.

By Mackenzi Klemann
Indiana Capital Chronicle

PLAINFIELD — Indiana K-12 educators will soon have less paperwork following the U.S. Department of Education’s approval of a waiver exempting the state from provisions of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The state applied for the waiver in December to streamline education spending and align its new A-F accountability measures with federal law.

The waiver consolidates federal funding from portions of Titles I, II, III and IV – grants used to support things like low-income students, teacher training, English language learners and school safety – totaling $50 million over the next four years.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who visited Plainfield High School Tuesday for a ceremonial signing of the waiver, said the change frees $20 million in state and local funds from “bureaucratic red tape” so schools can reallocate money to the classroom.

The waiver also OKs the use of college and career readiness metrics like work-based learning and credentials toward high school accountability scores, a crucial component of Indiana’s new A-F system.

“President Trump told me I’d be successful in my job when I fired myself or worked myself out of a job,” McMahon said, “but his vision isn’t about me or one position. It’s about breaking up the education bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., a system that too often enriches adults while stifling progress for kids and empowering states to drive a new era of excellence for students across the country.”

She added, “We must breathe innovation into education, not suffocate it with top-down mandates, because we certainly know that one size does not fit all in education.”

Indiana is the third state approved for the waiver, nicknamed “Return Education to the States,” following Iowa and Louisiana.

States already control educational standards, curriculum and assessments. The waivers grant states greater control over how to spend federal K-12 funding too.

Indiana’s waiver consolidates funding for various education programs, which McMahon likened to a block grant, so schools no longer need to meet separate reporting requirements for each grant.

“At the heart of all this there is a simple, urgent belief: We must focus our time and energy on the work that propels us forward,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said. “We work to serve students, not to serve bureaucratic, outdated processes and paperwork.”

Less Paperwork, More Classroom Time

Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner leads a discussion about the state’s new federal education waiver. Photo by Mackenzi Klemann, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Educators in attendance Tuesday praised what they see as a move away from bureaucracy.

“Too often these programs had differing goals and really specific requirements that might have been at odds with one another,” said Betsy Wiley, president and CEO of the Institute for Quality Education.

“There’s just no proof that, that extra bureaucracy is leading to higher standard achievements,” said Keeanna Warren, chief executive officer of Purdue Polytechnic High School.

Plainfield Community Schools Superintendent Andy Allen said he anticipates significant savings as the district will be able to redeploy office staff, many of whom are trained educators, to the classroom due to the reduction in compliance paperwork.

“Just because we have less compliance (paperwork) doesn’t mean we just do less,” he said. “Now we get back out in the buildings, we get back in front of kids, we get back in front of teachers, get connected with our community to make sure we have our best voices leading work for our kids and our community.”

The waiver could also benefit outside programs like the Boys and Girls Club’s summer learning labs.

Duane Wilson, chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Club for the northern Indiana corridor, said the organization serves 5,800 Hoosier students throughout the state, but with additional funding the club could reach 10,000 Hoosier children next year.

The club is “moving the needle for kids,” Jenner said, but its rapid growth exceeded what the state could provide. “We’re seeing it in the short-term assessments. We’re seeing it in our state assessments.”

An Iowa TV anchor choked up on air as he quit his job, and announced he was leaving journalism – before blasting his station for spewing “saturated” news that makes local viewers “uncomfortable.”

Dustin Nolan, morning anchor for NBC-affiliate KWQC-TV 6 in Davenport, delivered the dramatic on-air resignation Friday, repeatedly pausing while fighting back tears before issuing a stinging rebuke of the news station.

“I have chosen to step away from the news industry,” said Nolan, who has worked at KWQC since 2022.

“Before I say goodbye, I just want to say, I hope every one of you that’s allowed me to be a part of your mornings just how important that I have taken this job, how much it means to me that you’ve trusted me these past few years to bring you the news in the morning.”

The distraught broadcaster stressed that he has “given everything” to serving up transparent, fact-driven news coverage to the Quad Cities, calling it a “public service.”

Nolan said all he has ever wanted was to report on the “issues that really matter.”

“I’ve always believed that we as a local news station owe you, the viewers, the best that we can do, because without you, none of us would be able to do this job,” Nolan added.

“I also believe that we, as a local news station, have to be more than trends or sanitized news, because it makes people feel uncomfortable,” he continued.

“That’s why the facts matter, and that’s why we do what we do here. We have to take people out of their bubbles and comfort zones and make them think about the world we all live in.”

The tearful anchor went on to praise his co-anchor — his wife Jenna — as the “greatest co-anchor in life.”

Nolan has worked at the Gray Media-owned station since November 2022, according to his LinkedIn.

After graduating from Catholic St. Ambrose University in Iowa, he began his career reporting sports in Wyoming for seven months before moving to Illinois, where he worked as a sports reporter at WQAD for nearly two years.

He later rose to a morning news anchor role at WFBF in Illinois, where he spent three years before joining KWQC.