Missing Merritt Island girl found safe; older teen arrested

Citizen's tip helps locate 14-year-old

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – A 14-year-old Merritt Island girl who was missing for three days has been found, and a 19-year-old man who was with her has been arrested on three charges, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office announced late Sunday.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey released a statement through his department's Facebook page that credited "social media, coupled with thousands of caring citizens," with reuniting the girl, Camryn Sutton, of Merritt Island, with her parents.

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"Earlier tonight, a tip was provided to our agency by a very observant citizen," Ivey said. "This citizen was out running errands late this afternoon, and recognized the suspect. He then notified Central Florida CrimeLine and the Sheriff''s Office, as he followed the suspect to a residence in Titusville. North Precinct patrol then established a perimeter, and were able to secure the suspect, and safely recover the child."

Brevard Sheriff's Lt. Mike Scully said Bobby Maas, 19, was found with the girl.

Maas was being booked into the Brevard County Jail Sunday night on charges of interference with child custody, aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude, Scully said.

Ivey said the Sheriff's Office Facebook posts related to the investigation "were viewed by 100,000 and shared over 2,500 times throughout the country," helping law enforcement in the investigation.

"This was an incredible job over the past 24 hours, as members of the East Precinct General Crimes Unit and the Gameover Task Force worked around the clock, following up on leads in search of the two," Ivey said in his Facebook post.

Before she was found Sunday, Sutton had been last seen Thursday afternoon in Cocoa Beach, in the company of Maas, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Ivey said, in coming days, he "will be recognizing the individual who was responsible for bringing a very happy ending to this situation" by providing the tip that helped his department find Sutton.


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