Man drives nearly 1,000 miles from Florida to pick up teen, make her his wife, cops say
A man has been indicted following accusations he drove from Florida to Ohio to pick up a teen girl he met playing video games and make her his wife, authorities said.
Thomas Alan Ebersole, 32, was indicted on a charge of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in an Aug. 12 news release.
His attorney declined a request for comment from McClatchy News.
In December 2023, a 16-year-old girl disappeared from Lima, Ohio, and wasn’t found until she logged into her World of Warcraft account from a home in Florida nearly a week later, McClatchy News previously reported.
Ebersole met the teen through the online game, and they began exchanging messages on Discord as he planned to drive to Ohio and bring her back to Dunnellon, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Marion County.
On Dec. 27, 2023, he sent a message to the teen, saying he was getting ready to leave, then a follow-up saying “856 miles to go…12 hours lol… almost out of Florida,” investigators said, according to a review of their conversations.
He’s accused of picking her up and driving her nearly 1,000 miles to north central Florida, where investigators said the two engaged in sexual activity.
When her IP address pinged from Ebersole’s residence Jan. 3, investigators showed up and asked about the missing girl, deputies said.
He initially denied knowing her, but then he went and brought the teen to the door, according to investigators.
Deputies reported she was “frustrated but cooperative” and said she had asked him to do this, according to the affidavit.
Investigators observed hickeys on his neck, and Ebersole told them he and the teen had a “romantic relationship” and he planned to hide her at his home until they could get married, deputies said.
He knew her age and denied that sex acts had taken place between them, but he was later charged with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor in Marion County, records show.
Federal prosecutors said DNA results confirmed sex acts had occurred.
He was charged in Marion County with interference with the custody of a minor and traveling to meet a minor after using a computer to lure a child, in addition to three sex offenses.
He pleaded not guilty in January, records show. If convicted, he would face at least 10 years and up to life in prison.
Dunnellon is about 90 miles north of Tampa.
This story was originally published August 14, 2024 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Man drives nearly 1,000 miles from Florida to pick up teen, make her his wife, cops say."