A Michigan man drove from Grand Blanc, Michigan to Ohio and picked up a 15-year-old girl reported missing from her home, then brought her back across state lines to a hotel in Fenton, according to the FBI.

Chason William-Gregory Pointer, 42, is behind bars after he’s accused of transporting a minor during the early morning hours of April 2, 2026, with the intent that she engage in criminal sexual activity with him. In a federal complaint, Pointer is also accused of coercion and enticement, after online conversations began on Reddit and later moved to Snapchat.

Reddit tip launches investigation

Reddit Inc. tipped off the FBI on April 4, 2026, about a chat it believed involved a missing Ohio minor, the FBI said. The conversation between the two users unfolded from March 30 to April 3. It allegedly included claims that one user, Pointer, investigators said, had driven to meet the other for sex and returned the next day, along with plans to meet at a hotel.

According to the complaint, the minor said they were 18, sent photos that Reddit believed matched the missing teen seen in recent news coverage, and said they lived in Ohio. The chat then appeared to shift to Snapchat, where the apparent minor then provided a different username.

Investigators then traced an IP address linked to the other username to a Comcast subscriber: Pointer, whose listed address was in Grand Blanc. Additional emergency requests linked a phone number to the same online identity, and more searches tied the number to Pointer. Michigan Secretary of State records also listed Pointer’s birth year as 1984 and a Grand Blanc address, according to records.

Ohio police departments get involved

In Ohio, a detective with the Sylvania Police Department confirmed the minor was missing and that she was 15 when she disappeared. The detective obtained emergency Snapchat records for the minor’s account and found a conversation between the minor and Pointer from March 31 to April 3 that “appeared to be sexually exploitive in nature.”

The detective also obtained Snapchat subscriber records for Pointer’s account, and the IP address previously associated with Pointer appeared seven times among the listed authentication actions.

Federal agents then reviewed call records for Pointer and said the phone’s location data suggested overnight travel south toward Toledo. They said after midnight on April 3, his phone moved away from the Grand Blanc area, reached the Toledo area around 2:30 a.m., near the victim’s address, and then showed northbound travel back toward Michigan, arriving in the Fenton area after 4:00 a.m.

At a hotel in Fenton, staff allegedly told investigators Pointer was registered to Room 215. When the FBI and the City of Fenton Police Department went to the room and knocked, they said they spotted Pointer and the missing teen walking down the hallway together and stopped them right there.

Pointer’s arrest

During the encounter, agents separated Pointer from the teen and started patting him down. Investigators said they found a knife in Pointer’s right pocket and a cellphone. Pointer was seated on a second-floor hallway bench and told he was not under arrest and was not handcuffed while questioned, the FBI said.

Pointer told an FBI agent and a Fenton Police Sergeant that he and the teen had been at Buffalo Wild Wings, and that he met her online in a Reddit chat group, court records said. Pointer claimed the teen was looking for “a sugar daddy” and that he drove from Grand Blanc to Toledo, picked her up, then drove to the hotel in Fenton, stopping only at WalMart, and said he was driving a Nissan.

He said he believed the victim was 18 and denied knowing she was 15, but when asked how many times he and the victim had sexual contact, Pointer requested a lawyer, according to the feds. Pointer also allegedly refused to allow searches of his hotel room, car and cellphone.

Pointer appeared in federal court in Bay City on April 6 for an initial appearance and was temporarily detained. He is scheduled for a detention hearing on April 10 at 1:00 p.m.

Records show Pointer was arrested in Oakland County for Assault and Battery in 2019.

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Members of the Iranian community in Mid-Michigan are grappling with President Donald Trump’s ultimatum demanding Iran open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump had threatened to attack civilian infrastructure in Iran if the country did not agree to a ceasefire deal by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Less than two hours before that deadline, Trump said he’s pulling back on those threats to widen attacks, subject to Iran agreeing to a two week ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Associated Press.

Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

The local Iranian community is split on what they call a complex issue, with some members expressing growing concerns as the dialogue intensifies, while others say there is a price of freedom.

• Trump warns a ‘whole civilization’ could die but adds Iran still has time to capitulate

Since the start of the war in Iran, Mitra Aliabouzar, like many Iranian people living in the U.S., wakes up every morning to check her phone for updates about family back home.

“To see this post, it was quite numbing and it was deeply unsettling to hear that,” said Aliabouzar, an Iranian activist.

Aliabouzar told News 10 messages like Trump’s post will not appeal to the country’s regime.

“Tweets like that, or posts like that, they are going to hurt the Iranian people, not the Islamic Regime. They thrive on isolation, destruction, and war,” she said.

Erfan Omid, who has protested against the regime and has been imprisoned for it, said he knows the dangers of war but said diplomacy is not an option for the United States and Iran.

“We know that war is not good, we know that war brings destruction we all know that. But this is the price we know we have to pay for freedom,” Omid said.

He said if the United States were to stop its course, it would leave the people of Iran vulnerable to a brutal regime.

“The worse scenario might be living — Iranian people left alone with this regime without any power plants, without any infrastructure,” Omid said.

Omid said if Iran can escape the grasp of the regime and obtain freedom, the people will be able to rebuild their country and be an ally to the United States.

Both activists said that once the conflict is over, and if the United States prevails, it should help the country rebuild the nation and build toward democracy.

An Iranian envoy said the country would take immediate and proportionate action if the president follows through on his threats. Iranian officials have urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other potential targets.

Stream News 10 on your favorite devices! Here’s how to download the WILX app on Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV.

Be the first to see the Mid-Michigan headlines you care about – download the News 10 mobile app and subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and YouTube page to receive the latest local news and weather.

Copyright 2026 WILX. All rights reserved.