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Cops use World of Warcraft account to find Florida man hiding missing girl

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Cops use World of Warcraft account to find Florida man hiding missing girl

A 31-year-old Florida man was arrested and faces charges after police say he hid a missing Ohio teen and planned to have sex with her.

Detective Henrick Osthed arrested Thomas Ebersole on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

An FBI special agent had reached out to Det. Osthed for assistance in locating the missing 16-year-old girl.

Investigators found the girl after she logged into World of Warcraft, an online video game, from Ebersole’s home address in Dunnellon, police said.

ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF JUVENILES SEES SUSTAINED INCREASE FOLLOWING COVID-19 PANDEMIC SPIKE

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Thomas Ebersole: Arrested for allegedly interfering with child custody, sheltering an unmarried minor and traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity in Marion County, Florida on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)

Upon further investigation, authorities learned that Ebersole also had a World of Warcraft account that was accessed from the location.

When law enforcement contacted Ebersole, he initially denied knowing the missing girl. However, when pressed, he allegedly admitted that he had driven to Ohio to meet the juvenile victim and brought her back to his home.

Ebersole told police he was in a romantic relationship with the minor and said he was going to hide her in his home and eventually marry her, according to the news release.

Ebersole turned over messages on the online chat app Discord to Det. Osthed that detailed his plans to meet the girl in Ohio and engage in sexual activity with her, despite knowing he was committing a crime, police said.

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‘THEY GROOM THESE KIDS’: PARENTS NEED TO BE AWARE OF HOW SEX TRAFFICKERS USE THE INTERNET

Copies of the ‘World of Warcraft’ computer video game sit on display inside a Best Buy store in New York, Friday, May 11,2007. Authorities traced the missing teen’s location to Thomas Ebersole’s home after she logged into her World of Warcraft account from there, police said.  (Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He was arrested and booked in Marion County Jail, where the sheriff’s office said he remains without bond.

Ebersole faces charges of interfering with child custody, traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity, and sheltering an unmarried minor. 

Law enforcement agencies have warned that children face a growing threat of being sexually exploited over the internet. 

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According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCME), reports of “Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts” have grown by 82% since 2021 and 113% since 2020.

DEEPFAKE AI TECH COULD ASSIST AND EMPOWER ONLINE PREDATORS, SAFETY EXPERT WARNS

An Apple iPhone 11 smartphone with the Discord software app logo on screen, taken on January 27, 2020. Ebersole allegedly admitted to making plans to meet the Ohio teen and have sex with her on Discord, a chat messaging app.  (Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

NCME attributed the growth, partially, to a spike in financial sextortion, defined as “a crime in which kids are targeted to share explicit photos and then threatened by offenders that they will share the images with the child’s friends, family, or others if they don’t give the blackmailer money.”

An NBC report published earlier this year detailed how Discord, which boasts 150 million users worldwide, has been used by child predators to groom children, trade child sexual exploitation material and extort minors whom they trick into sending nude images.

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The report identified 35 cases over the past six years in which adults were prosecuted on charges of kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault that allegedly involved chat messages on Discord. 

Discord has community guidelines which warn minors “do not engage in sexual conduct or any conduct that puts your online or physical safety at risk.” The platform also prohibits adults from soliciting sexual conduct or engaging in any sexual conduct with persons under the age of 18.

Discord disabled 128,153 accounts and removed 7,736 servers for Child Safety between July and September 2023, according to the company’s third quarter transparency report. The company said it reported 51,916 accounts to NCME, a 40% increase from the previous quarter. 

Fox News Digital’s C.B. Cotton contributed to this report.

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Southeast

Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges

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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said. 

Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. 

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop.  (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)

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Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day. 

He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later. 

Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing. 

A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding. 

In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported. 

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REPEAT OFFENDER ON PAROLE FOR MURDER TIED TO BRUTAL JAIL ASSAULT, ESCAPE HOURS AFTER ROBBERY

Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia.  (Fairfax County Police Department)

Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”

“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said. 

“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”

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Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia.  (Provided)

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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person. 

“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states. 

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Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

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Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.

Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body. 

The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.   

The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country. 

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The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger  (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)

“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. 

“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”

Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH PRIOR DEPORTATION SHOOTS DEPUTY IN CHEST, DIES AFTER EXCHANGE: DHS

Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026.  (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go. 

The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE. 

The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.

Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)

“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”

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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials. 

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Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

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Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said. 

Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital. 

During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said. 

Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said.  (Getty Images )

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“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. 

“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”

SCHUMER, DEMS AGAIN BLOCK DHS FUNDING, FORCE STATE OF THE UNION SHOWDOWN

This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)

Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said. 

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His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education. 

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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer. 

Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE. 

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