A truck driver is under investigation following the discovery of a teenage boy found with human bite marks at a motel in Louisiana who claims that the driver transported him across the country following a connection via Tinder.
The 16-year-old boy was reported missing by his mother in University City, Missouri on July 21st after the boy didn’t come home.
Officials then began to track the boy using GPS and could see his movement from Missouri to North Carolina to California to Louisiana, but were unable to pinpoint his exact location until, on August 9th, the boy contacted police from the front desk of a motel in Duson, Louisiana, reported KLFY News.
The boy then told police that he had initially met the 27-year-old unnamed truck driver on Tinder, where the boy had claimed to be 19. The truck driver then allegedly took the boy and transported him from St. Louis to Raleigh, North Carolina and then to California and were on their way to Miami, Florida when they stopped to rest in Louisiana.
According to KSDK News, the boy the explained to officials he was being held against his will during his time with the truck driver and was “transported to a local medical facility where he was treated for scratches and what appear to be human bites, the child has been released and is awaiting for transportation back to Missouri to be reunited with his family,” said Duson Police Chief Kip Judice.
The truck driver was taken into custody and questioned, but was soon released “pending additional information.”
No charges have been filed against the truck driver as officials investigate the incident and seek the help of the FBI.