Overview
- The 16-year-old, reported missing from Colerain Township, Ohio on Feb. 16, was found safe last Friday in a hotel near Jacksonville, Florida.
- Agents tracked Tennessee suspect Negron to Palatka, Florida after a search of his home indicated he had fled, and they arrested him the same day.
- The operation involved coordination among the FBI’s Cincinnati, Nashville and Jacksonville field offices and the Hostage Rescue Team, according to Director Kash Patel.
- Charges are pending while investigators examine digital evidence; the FBI has met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio about possible federal counts related to transporting a minor.
- During the probe, agents linked Negron to a 2024 Texas case in which a local district attorney declined charges; officials said no child sexual abuse material has been identified to date.