Missing LI 15-year-old found in Virginia with man now facing kidnapping charge

Police have located a missing 15-year-old Suffolk County boy with autism after he told his parents he was going to get ice cream and was later found in Virginia early Wednesday, as law enforcement there took a 20-year-old man into custody, authorities said.

During a news conference at police headquarters in Yaphank on Thursday, Suffolk police acting Commissioner Stuart Cameron said the two individuals were found in Montgomery County by police there at a rest stop in a car at 1 a.m. Wednesday. The 20-year-old man, who police did not name, is expected to return to Suffolk County on Friday, where he is facing a second-degree kidnapping charge, Cameron said.

"It’s obvious that he had traveled out of state and I believe that by locating him, they very well likely have prevented a tragedy from occurring to this 15-year-old by finding him so rapidly," Cameron said.

Initially, Cameron said the boy and the 20-year-old man, who is from Tennessee, had been communicating for three to four months on a private application while playing Minecraft before the boy went missing Tuesday. Cameron said the two had arranged to meet in the area near an ice cream shop near the boy's home in Suffolk County.

After the boy left for the ice cream shop, his mother became concerned because he didn’t return home after she called him, Cameron said. She then called 911 to report him missing.

County police were able to find video of the boy, who "made an effort to hide his bike" and joined the 20-year-old, Cameron said. Police then searched the teenager’s computer for clues.

"Prior to leaving, he had partially dissembled his computer to make it more difficult, not fully disassemble but disconnecting the wires and some of the components on the computer to make it a little bit more difficult," Cameron said.

Police declined to say what technology they used to ultimately find the teenager. Cameron said the reason was that if they disclosed the technology it could enable others to "better cover their tracks and make it more difficult for our police department or another police department to find them in the future."

Based on the techniques by the suspect "he was looking to cover his tracks essentially," Cameron said, adding that the company of the private messaging application, whose name he did not disclose, helped them in the investigation.

Cameron said "it’s entirely possible" the suspect "may have coached" the boy.

"… Although he’s special needs, he’s highly functional so he may have realized that this was something that would have assisted them in doing whatever they had planned to do," he said, adding that the boy is described as a homebody.