KEY LARGO, Florida – A 13-year-old girl from South Carolina was discovered in Key Largo, Florida, after reportedly being abducted by a 35-year-old man from Wisconsin, according to authorities.
The young teenager went missing from her hometown of Simponville, South Carolina, prompting the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office to initially label her as a “runaway” in social media posts.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in the Florida Keys received a tip that the girl’s alleged captor, Tyler Michael Berlick of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, might be heading to the area. Deputies found both of them inside a pickup truck in the parking lot of a Key Largo shopping center.
Berlick was arrested and charged with kidnapping, and is currently being held without bond in the Monroe County Jail in Key West. He is awaiting extradition to South Carolina.
Reportedly, Berlick and the girl met through an “online chatting service and gaming app,” according to Miami ABC affiliate WPLG.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the incident.
Further details about the case and the ongoing investigation are yet to be disclosed. The girl’s safe return and the arrest of her alleged abductor bring relief to the family and authorities involved in the case.