Kearney police found a missing child from Illinois safe on Nov. 8 after locating a car linked to her in a local gas station parking lot. Officers reunited her with her family and took a 22-year-old man into custody.
According to KCTV5, officials said the man met the child online, traveled from California to Illinois to meet her, and brought her to the Kansas City, Missouri area. Police did not identify him. He was charged with felony child abduction and felony solicitation to meet a minor and was being held without bond while awaiting extradition to Illinois. Those charges are allegations.
The described travel sits beside a national surge in reports of the same kind of harm. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said its CyberTipline received 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement in 2025, a 158% increase from 2024. More than 800 of those 2025 reports involved an offender traveling to meet a child in person. In 2024 the center logged more than 546,000 online-enticement reports, a 192% increase from 2023, and said the category had been rising for several years.
Kearney police encouraged parents to talk with their children about online safety. The man remained in custody pending extradition to Illinois.
