Missing Roosevelt 13-year-old found safe after meeting man on Oculus

ROOSEVELT, Utah — Police have found a 13-year-old girl who went missing on Tuesday after she’d met a man using the popular Oculus virtual reality platform. 

Roosevelt Police said this is one of the first instances they’ve seen involving a child meeting someone offline they’d met through Oculus.

They said the 13-year-old had been talking with a man using Oculus for a month, said Roosevelt police.

The child received a message on the platform indicating the man “was waiting,” before she went missing, police said  That was at the same time she walked out of her home on Tuesday. 

Then Thursday, police found the girl in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was in the back of a semi-truck that a Florida man was driving.  

Police are investigating the suspect, 25-year-old Chris Evans, for kidnapping and harboring a runaway. 

The child is in “good health,” according to a Facebook post by Roosevelt Police. 

What is Oculus?

Oculus is a virtual reality gaming platform operated by Meta (formerly Facebook). A Facebook account is required. The game does not have parental controls according to the Protect Young Eyes website.

That website recommends a router with filtering and category controls for any families using Oculus.

Other reading:

• Utah veteran uses virtual reality to help others combat PTSD
• Facebook changes its company name to Meta
• Russian dairy farmers gave cows VR goggles with hopes they would be happier and make better milk

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