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Missing teen found in semi truck in after meeting trucker on Oculus virtual reality platform

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A missing teenage girl has been found riding around in a semi truck after meeting the driver on a virtual reality platform. 

13-year-old Rylie Secrest was found in Cheyenne, Wyoming at 3:39 p.m. on Thursday, March 10th after going missing from Roosevelt City, Utah on Tuesday, March 8th. Her community held a vigil for her on Wednesday.

According to 2 KUTV News, the girl was last seen between 5 and 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday after leaving the home on her own. Investigators say that she had been communicating with 25-year-old truck driver Chris Evans from Florida via Oculus, Meta’s (formerly known as Facebook) virtual reality platform prior to her departure. She had received an Oculus message reading “I’m here” just before leaving her home. They believe Secrest had been communicating with Evans for about a month prior to her departure.

Investigators were able to identify and track Evans using cell phone data and information from messaging apps. After officers located the truck, Secrest was found inside in “good health.”

Evans is now facing charges of kidnapping and harboring a runaway. This is the first recorded case of its kind involving the Oculus system.

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