{"id":232904,"date":"2026-04-15T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/232904\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:17:14","slug":"missing-teen-found-hiding-in-convicted-sex-offenders-closet-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/232904\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing teen found hiding in convicted sex offender’s closet in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

A missing 17-year-old girl was found hiding in a convicted sex offender\u2019s closet in Florida<\/a>, authorities said Tuesday, leading to the man\u2019s arrest on multiple charges.<\/p>\n

Polk County detectives went to the home of Alexis Diaz-Toledo, 30, on Monday after getting a tip from Orange County deputies that a runaway teen might be with a man in Dundee, the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Diaz-Toledo initially told investigators he had not seen the girl for several days and denied knowing her whereabouts, according to the sheriff’s office.<\/p>\n

Authorities said he also initially refused to let detectives search his home.<\/p>\n

FLORIDA TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEX WITH STUDENT WHOSE PARENTS TRACKED HIS LOCATION<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Alexis <\/p>\n

Alexis Diaz-Toledo, 30, was arrested and charged with two counts of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, sheltering a minor without notifying a parent and other charges. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

Detectives then determined Diaz-Toledo was in violation of his sex offender registration requirements<\/a> for failing to report two vehicles being kept at his home.<\/p>\n

When investigators eventually searched his home, authorities said detectives found the missing girl<\/a> hiding in a bedroom closet.<\/p>\n

\"Polk <\/p>\n

Polk County deputies got a tip from deputies in Orange County that a runaway teen might be at a home in the area, leading detectives to the home of Diaz-Toledo, authorities said. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office, File)<\/p>\n

The teen was safely returned to her family, the sheriff\u2019s office said, without elaborating on how she ended up at the home of Diaz-Toledo.<\/p>\n

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd underscored concerns about the suspect in a statement to Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

“A 30-year old male sex offender is not the kind of person you want giving a 17-year old girl a place to stay,” Judd said. “I can assure you that Alexis Diaz-Toledo did not have the missing juvenile\u2019s best interests in mind. Suffice to say, we gave Alexis a place to stay for a while \u2014 at the Polk County Jail.”<\/p>\n

FLORIDA DOCTOR CHARGED AFTER ALLEGEDLY REMOVING WRONG ORGAN DURING SURGERY<\/a><\/p>\n

Diaz-Toledo was arrested and charged with two counts of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, interfering with custody of a minor, sheltering a minor without notifying a parent and providing false information to law enforcement during a missing person investigation.<\/p>\n

\"Polk <\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office said Diaz-Toledo has been a registered sex offender since a 2014 conviction for lewd and lascivious battery involving a minor. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office, File)<\/p>\n

Diaz-Toledo remained in custody as of Wednesday, and was not eligible for bond, according to online jail records.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Diaz-Toledo has been a registered sex offender since a 2014 conviction for lewd and lascivious battery involving a minor between 12 and 15 years old, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A missing 17-year-old girl was found hiding in a convicted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7106,28,30,29,6888,4373,6180],"class_list":{"0":"post-232904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-crime-world","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-missing-persons","13":"tag-odd-news","14":"tag-sex-crimes"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}