Deputy rescues 13-year-old girl who was lured to Florida motel room by older man

DELAND, FLORIDA — A Florida deputy saved a 13-year-old girl from a motel room where she was with a 22-year-old she met online.

The teen’s grandmother reported her missing after she failed to come home after school. The girl missed her an after school activity and had not been seen since classes finished.

A friend of the girl informed investigators that she had recently talked about meeting an older man that she had met online.

That comes just days after a man from Pennsylvania spoke with over ten students through their school computers. He eventually abducted a 14-year-old from North Carolina. Law enforcement tracked him and the teen down in Arkansas, where the kidnapper was shot dead.

In Florida, Deputy Royce James went from motel to motel in an attempt to located the girl as soon as he was informed of the circumstances of the girls disappearance.

“I was extremely angry. I have daughters, and the thought of my daughter being in that situation got me extremely angry,” said James.

At every motel, James showed desk staff a picture of the girl. Eventually, his perseverance and determination paid off.

James said as soon as he entered the room, the young girl ran up to him and hugged him.

“She came running into my arms, because she knew that she had been saved at that point.”

The girl requested James stay with her until she was reunited with her family. He took her to a medical facility to be checked out and then took her home.

“At one point I did go back to my patrol car and cry. It was pretty emotional,” recalls James.

Tyler Thompson, the 22-year-old who was in the motel room with the girl, was subsequently arrested and charged with interference with child custody and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.

Investigators said more charges are pending.