Man Arrested For Kidnapping 3 Children From Ohio, Driving Them To Illinois

A man was arrested and charged with kidnapping three children from Ohio and driving them to Beach Park, Illinois, over the weekend.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office received a call from a parent of one of the missing juveniles at around 12:30 p.m. Saturday after they tracked one of the phones to the 10600 block of West York house Road in Beach Park.

Lake County Sheriff's deputies managed to locate the suspect, Michael Negron, 19, with the three missing Juveniles - two girls aged 12 and 14 and a boy aged 15 - at a gas station in the area between Lewis Avenue and Wadsworth Road, as per Chicago Suntimes.

Investigation revealed that Negron had been in communication with the 12-year-old girl from Middleton, Ohio, for several weeks on social media apps like Snapchat and Fortnite. He then drove to Middleton on Wednesday and reportedly spent a couple of days in a hotel. During his stay, he interacted with the three juveniles multiple times. Negron eventually left Middleton with the 12-year-old girl, her 14-year-old sister, and a 15-year-old boy Friday night in his car, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

"Lake County Sheriff's Telecommunicators obtained additional information about the missing children from the caller, and learned an unknown male, driving a Ford Mustang left Middleton with the children at approximately 10:30 p.m. on January 20, 2023." the sheriff's office said in a statement.

One of the children texted the description of the car they were traveling in to their parents, which helped the sheriff's office to locate Negron and the juveniles.

Sheriff John D. Idleburg called it an "unfortunate reality," that there are "predators among us who prey on children."

"Many of these predators use social media applications to initially meet a child and build trust with them. After that trust is built, they convince the child to meet. It is incredibly important to look at your children's electronics to see what applications they are using, who they are communicating with, and what they are saying," Idleburg said, according to CBS News.

Negron was charged with one count of kidnapping and three counts of criminal confinement, the sheriff's office confirmed. It was unclear what exactly were Negron's intentions with the three children. He was held in the Lake County Jail. The children were unharmed and were taken to safety at the Lake County Children's Advocacy Center.