An Elko New Market teenager who went missing Saturday night has been found, apparently after she ran away.
Melissa Hartwell Hanson dropped her daughter Danielle Edson, 16, off at the Target in Lakeville on Saturday afternoon. When Hartwell Hanson came to retrieve her at 8 p.m. she was nowhere to be found. According to a Facebook post, Hartwell Hanson had to work with Edson's friends, police and Target to figure out that her daughter had left with an older man.
Target security footage showed Edson getting into a silver Mitsubishi Eclipse, but investigators were unable to determine the vehicle's license plate number. According to the post, Edson had been in contact with a man over a social media app called "MeetMe." The man is believed to be about 30 years old.
Edson did not have her phone — her parents confiscated it — but she borrowed a phone to arrange to be picked up from a side entrance of the store by the man.
A spokesman at the Elko New Market Police Department said Monday night that Edson had turned up unharmed, after running away. She was heading home, the official said.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the MeetMe app is a "top choice for sexual predators." The city filed a lawsuit against the creators of the program in 2014 for distributing the geographic location and personal information of minors without proper disclosure of how information would be distributed.
"MeetMe improperly collects personal information from young teens — including their photos and real-time locations." Herrera said in a statement about the suit, "It then distributes that information in ways that expose children to very serious safety risks."
Ben Farniok is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.
