On January 21, 2023, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the parent of a missing juvenile from Middleton, Ohio.  The parent said their two children a 12-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl, as well as a friend of their daughters, a 15-year-old boy, were all missing.  The parent said one of the cellular phones tracked somewhere in the area of the 10600 block of West Yorkhouse Road, Beach Park.

Lake County Sheriff’s Telecommunicators obtained additional information about the missing children from the caller, and learned an unknown male, driving a Ford Mustang left Middleton with the children at approximately 10:30 p.m. on January 20, 2023.  Sheriff’s Telecommunicators searched an internal database and found Michael Negron, 19, of the 10600 block of West Yorkhouse Road, Beach Park, drove a Ford Mustang which matched the description of the vehicle that was seen in Middleton, Ohio.  

Sheriff’s deputies began checking the area and located the Ford at a gas station in the area of Lewis Avenue and Wadsworth Road, Beach Park.  They located the three juveniles and Negron.  Negron was arrested and transported to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.  The juveniles were all taken to safety at the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center. 

Further investigation revealed Negron was communicating with the 12-year-old for several weeks on Fortnite, SnapChat, and other social media platforms.  Negron drove the Middleton, Ohio area on January 18, 2023, and stayed at a hotel.  It is believed he interacted with the three juveniles several times during his stay in Middleton.  He then departed with the three juveniles on January 20th and drove them to Beach Park.  One of the children texted their parent a description of the car they were in, which helped the sheriff’s office search for and locate Negron and the juveniles.

It is unclear what exactly Negron’s intentions were with the children.  

After hearing the facts and circumstances of the situation, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved one count of kidnapping and three counts of child endangerment. 

Sheriff John D. Idleburg said, “It is an unfortunate reality, but there are predators among us who prey on children.  Many of these predators use social media applications to initially meet a child and build trust with them.  After that trust is built, they convince the child to meet.  It is incredibly important to look at your children’s electronics to see what applications they are using, who they are communicating with, and what they are saying.  I am so proud of my staff for working together to quickly locate and rescue these children.”

Negron remains held in the Lake County Jail pending an initial court hearing this morning.   Additional charges are possible.  

All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.