A Southern California 10-year-old was found safe Sunday, a day after being kidnapped by a stranger she had been communicating with on Roblox and the messaging platform Discord, authorities said.
The Kern County girl was found in Elk Grove, hundreds of miles from her home, with 27-year-old Matthew Macatuno Naval, the county Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Naval, who is from Elk Grove, was arrested Sunday and was facing charges of kidnapping and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor child.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday that, after her family reported her missing, deputies received information from the girl’s friends that led them to believe that she had been kidnapped. The communication with Naval they uncovered on Roblox, an online game platform popular among preteens, pointed investigators to the Northern California city, where they recovered the child.
Elk Grove police assisted Kern County officials and were able to find Naval in his car at a strip mall near his home with the missing child. He was arrested less than six hours after Kern County investigators were initially dispatched. The girl was temporarily taken into protective custody until she was reunited with her family.
Naval was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail without bail and was awaiting extradition to Kern County.
In a news release, the Sheriff’s Office stressed the importance of internet safety.
“Parents, monitor all electronic usage and know who your children are communicating with. Many apps and games have messaging capabilities and present the same, if not more, risk as social media platforms,” the statement read.
Anyone with additional information about this case can call the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at (661) 861-3110.
