IN- Two missing girls safe, man arrested in Mishawaka

3-5-2009 Indiana:

Two Elkhart girls that were missing Wednesday night have been found.

A 16-year-old girl and her 11-year-old sister were reported missing around 6:30 Wednesday evening after leaving with a man they met on MySpace.

Matthew Sanders, 26, met the teenager on MySpace, where Sanders poses as a 19-year-old, about two weeks ago.

On his MySpace page, Sanders has pictures of himself with the teenager. Sanders and the teen have reportedly met up several times since meeting on MySpace.

Sanders is originally from Washington state, where he has a warrant out for his arrest for residential entry and a drug offense.

A woman who Sanders used to be involved with, and who is the mother of one of his three children, tipped the teenager's mother off to Sanders' relationship with her daughter after he had told the woman of the relationship.

When the two girls were missing, the mother contacted the woman Sanders had been involved with, and she was able to help the police locate Sanders and her daughters.

The girls were found around 11:00 Wednesday evening in Mishawaka with Sanders.

Mishawaka Police had Sanders in custody but have since passed him over to Elkhart Police, where he is being held on the charges he faces in Washington. ..News Source.. by WNDU.com



UPDATE: Man arrested in case of missing Elkhart girls

Matthew Sanders, 26, of South Bend was arrested for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor in the investigation of two missing Elkhart girls on Wednesday. The girls were found safely at a Mishawaka home around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night.

They were reported missing around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday by their mother who said the girls left with a man they met over the internet. Mishawaka Police found the girls, ages 11 and 16, at a home in the 1600 block of Homewood Road in Mishawaka.

Earlier in the evening, police reported they believed the girls left with Sanders. Sanders had an outstanding warrant from Washington State on burglary and drug charges.

According to Mishawaka Police, this type of incident is every parent's nightmare. A child meets someone on-line, who presents himself as one thing but turns out to be something much different. In this case the person was much older than what he admitted and had a criminal history. ..Source.. by FoxNews