A 12-year-old girl missing from Whittier who was found in Anza, outside Temecula, met the man she was with on a PlayStation social networking site, police said.
Stephanie Brie Rodriguez allegedly left her home with Ivan Felipe Cerda, who lives with his mother in Vista, on Friday afternoon.
He was driving his mother's Volkswagen Passat when he picked up the girl, police said.
The two had met on the site, then Cerda allegedly drove up to get Stephanie.
Whittier police Lt. Carlos Solorza said that Cerda would face a charge of depriving a parent of custodial rights, pending determination of whether there was any intimate contact between the suspect and the girl.
"We will also be returning her to Whittier," Solorza said.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A 12-year-old girl who ran away from her home near Los Angeles, allegedly with a 20-year-old man she met on the Internet, was found safe today in rural Anza, outside Temecula.
Stephanie Brie Rodriguez allegedly left her home with Ivan Felipe Cerda, who lives with his mother in Vista, on Friday afternoon.
Police in her hometown of Whittier said she was found at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
Cerda was taken into custody, according to Whittier police.
"My understanding is that they were located at a park," said Whittier police Lt. Carlos Solorza.
The lieutenant said that Cerda and the girl were attending a sporting event at the park for a Cerda family member and when they were spotted by a relative, sheriff's deputies were called.
Cerda's mother had called her family and warned them all that her son might show up somewhere with the girl and asked all her relatives to call authorities if any of them spotted the child, Solorza said.
"When they showed up at the park, the family member called police," Solorza said.
According to police, Stephanie left her home at 11500 Broadway Ave., about 2 pm. and was later picked up by the suspect and taken to his mother's home in Vista for a short time.
Cerda was driving his mother's Volkswagen Passat.
Cerda was being held at a sheriff's substation in Hemet -- as was the girl -- until detectives from Whittier could get there and interview them, the lieutenant said.
