A missing 14-year-old girl is back with her parents after Vigo County deputies used automated license plate cameras to track down a vehicle linked to an adult she had been communicating with, leading them to a hotel room along South US 41 where she was found safe. Deputies arrested 21-year-old Brandon Claytor, of the Indianapolis area, on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to the Vigo County Sheriff's Office, the case began when deputies responded to a report of a runaway juvenile and started investigating her movements and potential associates in southern Vigo County. Investigators identified an adult individual who had been communicating with the teen, and Flock cameras showed a vehicle associated with that person traveling into the area to pick her up, the sheriff's office says. The same camera network later showed the vehicle remaining in the vicinity, giving deputies a trail to follow.
Deputies narrowed their search to hotels and businesses along South US 41, a corridor known for its concentration of lodging and commercial activity feeding highway traffic through the county. They located the vehicle at a hotel and found the juvenile safe inside a room linked to the vehicle's registered owner, per the sheriff's office post. She was released into the care of her parents.
How License Plate Technology Cracked the Case
Flock Safety's automated readers work by photographing passing vehicles and logging plate numbers and vehicle details into networks that subscribing agencies can search in real time. That same technology has become central to how Vigo County law enforcement responds to active investigations, even as other Indiana communities reconsider the tool. Bloomington, for instance, chose not to renew its Flock Safety contract this year amid privacy concerns, a divide detailed by a Facebook post from the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
The rescue also echoes a similar case from July, when Vigo County law enforcement and Indiana State Police used an emergency phone location order to intercept a vehicle and recover a runaway 14-year-old girl who had left with an adult man from Kentucky, according to a Facebook post from WTWO. That case, like this one, involved an out-of-state adult connecting with a local minor before deputies moved quickly to locate her.
What Charges Claytor Could Face
Claytor was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and the sheriff's office says he may face additional charges as the case develops. The investigation remains ongoing to determine the full nature of the relationship between Claytor and the teen, per the sheriff's office.
Under Indiana Code § 35-46-1-8, contributing to the delinquency of a minor is generally a Class A misdemeanor, but the charge escalates to a Level 6 felony when an adult 21 or older induces a minor under 16 into a delinquent act, according to FindLaw. A Class A misdemeanor carries up to a year in jail and fines up to $5,000, while a Level 6 felony carries a prison sentence ranging from six months to two and a half years along with fines up to $10,000, FindLaw notes. Indiana law also allows law enforcement to pursue further charges against adults who conceal or aid runaway minors, since harboring a minor without parental consent violates state family protection statutes.
A Sheriff's Office Under New Leadership
Sheriff Derek Fell, who directed the investigation, took office after being appointed by a Democratic precinct committeeperson caucus in July 2024 following the death of Sheriff John Plasse, and he ran for a full term in the 2026 election cycle, according to Terre Haute Vice News. That leadership transition has kept law enforcement performance and public safety technology prominent local topics in Vigo County.
Cases like this one reflect a broader pattern of youth crisis intervention across the state. National Runaway Safeline data collected from January 2024 through December 2025 found that 52% of Indiana youth reaching out were in active crisis and 11% were runaways, with 14-year-olds representing one of the primary age groups seeking help. The state also maintains the Indiana Clearinghouse for Information on Missing Children and Missing Endangered Adults, established by the Indiana General Assembly in 2009 to operate under the Indiana State Police as a central repository for tracking missing minors.
