PUTNAM COUNTY, Fl. (WJBF) – A 16-year-old girl reported missing from North Carolina was found during a traffic stop late Monday evening in Florida.
According to a Facebook post, Deputy Chewning with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, noticed a vehicle speeding.
The vehicle slowed down, but the deputy still initiated a traffic stop after pacing the vehicle above the speed limit.
Once he made contact with the driver and passenger, the passenger gave false information about her name and date of birth.
The driver, Joshua Magraff, 37, of Charlotte, North Carolina, initially said the passenger was his 16-year-old cousin.
Courtesy of the Putnam Co. Sheriff’s Office Facebook page
The passenger gave deputies a 2013 birth date, which would make her only 12 years-old. The passenger gave two more false names and dates of birth causing Deputy Chewning to be concerned.
The deputy placed the child in his patrol car and she told him her real name.
Upon a search, it was found that the teen was reported missing a month earlier from North Carolina. Contact was made with the teen’s mother. The mother stated she did not know Magraff and she reported her daughter missing on Feb. 16.
When deputies asked the suspect what his connection was to the teen, Magraff changed his story to she was a friend. When deputies asked him why he was hanging out with a 16-year-old his story changed to stating he thought she was 19.
When asked why the pair were in Florida, he stated he was in the state to play gambling games.
During a search of the vehicle, deputies found 19 counterfeit $100 bills, synthetic marijuana, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Deputies contacted the Department of Children and Families to take custody of the teen until she could be reunited with her mother.
Magraff was arrested and charged with interference in child custody, synthetic marijuana possession, possession of counterfeit currency, contributing to deliquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was taken to the Putnam County Jail and held on $9,000 bond.
You can watch the full video of the traffic stop by clicking here.
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