Missing North Carolina teenager found one year later, suspect in custody
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A teenage girl from North Carolina has been found alive in Georgia after she went missing more than a year ago and a 31-year-old man is now in custody, according to the FBI.
The teenager had been missing since May 23, 2016, and was found this weekend at a home in Duluth, Georgia, more than 200 miles away from her hometown, the FBI said Sunday.
The FBI said its Atlanta-based agents worked with detectives from the Gwinnett County Police Department in Georgia to locate the girl after a special agent in Charlotte received information about the case.
Michael Ren Wysolovski, 31, was taken into custody in Georgia and is "facing a number of state charges," the FBI said. The Bureau added that additional charges could be forthcoming.
Wysolovski has been charged with four felonies: aggravated sodomy, cruelty to children – deprivation in the first degree, interference with custody, and false imprisonment.
The teen, who authorities say has been reunited with her parents, had allegedly met Wysolovski online, her parents told ABC affiliate WSOC in Charlotte.
The girl's parents said Wysolovski allegedly drove the teenager to his Georgia home. While in Georgia, the missing girl spoke to a woman online and told the woman she was missing; that woman allegedly contacted the teen's parents Friday night, which led to her rescue, her parents told WSOC.
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Once authorities had received the tip about the girl's whereabouts, they acted quickly, her parents told WSOC.
“We got the first message at 8:09 (p.m.) and then by 12:32 (a.m.), they had her,” her mother told WSOC.
Wysolovski appeared in court this afternoon and has not yet entered a plea. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 7.
The FBI said its agents in Charlotte and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are continuing to investigate and will work with the FBI in Atlanta and the Gwinnett County Police Department.