Missing teenage girl is found alive 500 miles from home, six weeks after vanishing from school in in American Fork, Utah

Alisa Petrov, 15, vanished without a trace on April 21 after being dropped off at school, getting on a train left of town for a Las Vegas rendezvous with Florida resident, Matthew Menard

She was not seen or heard from her until she walked into a police station in Colorado Springs on Sunday night and identified herself

Hours after she went missing, her parents Olga and Nikolai Petrov discovered their daughter was leading a double life when her secret iPad was found hidden in her dresser

Teen dug the long-forgotten device out of a dusty old box and was chatting with three accused pedophiles

Samuel Teancum Mitchell, 41, William Taylor Glines, 37, and Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, are all in custody charged with sexual exploitation of the teen

Alisa Petrov, [photo], 15, disappeared after she was dropped off at her school in American Fork, Utah, on April 21 and has only just been found alive. She walked into a police station in Colorado Springs, 500 miles from her home on Sunday night and identified herself

The month-long search for a Utah teenager ended over the weekend after she walked into a police station 500 hundred miles from her home, six weeks after she vanished from outside her school in American Fork.
15-year-old Alisa Petrov vanished without a trace on April 21, after being dropped off at school in Utah, getting on a train out of town. Nothing was heard from her until she walked into a police station in Colorado Springs on Sunday night and identified herself.
The teen was ‘in good health’ but it is still unknown where she was or if she was being held against her will, police said, adding that the teen’s parents who have been notified of her location are working with police to bring their daughter back home from Colorado Springs to to South Jordan.
Prior to her recovery Alisa was last seen on security video leaving a train platform in Provo, Utah. Her family had previously offered a $20,000 reward for any information leading to her safe return.

Alisa Petrov, [photo], had been chatting online with three strangers, all alleged to be pedophiles, when she skipped school and got on a train to Provo, Utah, then tried to connect to Las Vegas to meet one of the men. Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, planned to fly her to his home in Miami via Los Angeles

When she failed to return from school on April 21, the search for the missing girl took a frantic turn within hours of her disappearance when her parents discovered their daughter had double life. Olga and Nikolai Petrov found Alisa’s secret iPad was found hidden in her dresser, uncovering a terrifying trove of contents.
According to the couple, their daughter dug the long-forgotten device out of a dusty old box and was chatting with three accused pedophiles – identified as Samuel Teancum Mitchell, 41, William Taylor Glines, 37, and Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35. Two of the men live half way across the country while one is a local. All the men have since been detained and charged with exploitation of the minor.
Alisa’s mother said the iPad was so well hidden that she and her husband missed it when they searched their house for clues after she didn’t come home. According to Olga Petrova, she and her husband were vigilant in protecting their daughter and educated her about the dangers of talking to strangers online.
‘We regularly check her phone and there was nothing suspicious. Everything seemed to be normal, just classmates, neighbors,’ she said.
‘We never thought she could be talking to strangers in this way… but she was sneaky and we didn’t know. I wish we figured this out sooner and could help her.’

After she was dropped off at school on the morning of April 21, Alisa skipped class, bought supplies at a nearby gas station and convinced a man there to drive her to the local train station

The day she vanished, Alisa reportedly skipped school and headed for Nevada. She got on a train to Provo, Utah, the first leg of her journey to Las Vegas to meet one of the men. The perv reportedly, planned to fly the minor to his home in Miami, Florida, via Los Angeles.
After Alisa was dropped off at her school, Canyon Grove Academy, in American Fork, about 32 miles south of Salt Lake City. She did not go to class, instead she bought supplies at a nearby gas station and convinced a man there to drive her to the local train station.
The runaway got off the train in Provo, about 14 miles south of American Fork. She sought help from several people trying to get a bus ticket to continue her journey to Las Vegas where she had arranged to meet Matthew Nicholas Menard, a 35-yearold man from Miami, Florida.

Alisa’s parents Olga and Nikolai Petrov, seen [photo with baby Alisa], say they did all they could to keep their daughter safe 

According to Olga, her missing daughter had about $1,000 saved from pocket money and birthday gifts that she didn’t spend after she turned 15 on April 16, just five days before running away.
‘Somebody else is either helping her and we don’t know who or where… I’m not suspecting the worst,’ she said on Wednesday.
‘That means she’s with somebody else and we don’t know if it’s a good person or a bad person.’
Alisa has not explained why she ran away, but messages on Discord and Snapchat between her and Samuel Teancum Mitchell, 41, another of the accused pedophiles, revealed the teen apparently nursed deep animosity towards her parents.
‘Within their chat, the juvenile mentions suicide and that she hates her parents,’ police wrote in a probable cause affidavit for Mitchell’s arrest.

Alisa dug a long-forgotten old iPad out of a dusty box and was chatting to three accused pedophiles, all now behind bars . Her mom Olga [photo with a young Alisa], said the iPad was so well hidden that she and her husband missed it when they searched their house for clues after she didn’t come home

‘Mitchell advised he had met a girl online who was mad at her parents and had started cutting herself.’
Alisa also requested multiple times for Mitchell to ‘kidnap her’ and eight days before she ran away sent him locations of where she would be, the affidavit alleged.
The pair allegedly tried to arrange a meeting, Alisa asking: ‘like r we [for real] meeting?? like please confirm please before tonight confirm if we r meeting pls bring condoms’.
Mitchell, a local, informed Alisa that he was sick and couldn’t meet, instead she ran away to meet one of the other men in Las Vegas. 
According to the affidavit, Mitchell top police that after he turned down the opportunity to meet with Alisa because he was unwell, she ‘mentioned that she met an FBI agent in Florida and had an interest in that guy’.
That ‘guy’ is believed to be Menard, a tech sales executive, not an FBI agent, who according to the finding, spent months grooming Alisa for sex.
Menard reportedly, slowly gained Alisa’s trust after meeting on Instagram. The pedophile allegedly convinced the teenager to send nude photos and the pair engaged in perverted sexual fantasies before agreeing to meet in person.

Messages on Discord and Snapchat between Alisa and her three online ‘friends’ indicate the teen was seeking ways to connect in person with them, including asking one of the men to ‘kidnap her’ during a family ski trip [photo from that trip], the weekend before she ran away

Two days prior to disappearing, Alisa sent a message to Mitchell at 12.34am: ‘IM RUNNING AWAY, please don’t contact me’.
This was allegedly because Alisa had switched her plans about running away from home; This time she would be meeting Mathew Menard when he was on a business trip to Las Vegas, before flying to Los Angeles and then his home in Miami.
Police detailed in affidavits the inappropriate messages between the teenage girl and the 35-year-old tech sale executive, dating back to January 17.
The pair never met, as police in Miami seized his phone on April 30 after messages were found between them on Alisa’s iPad.  
Menard was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and three counts of criminal solicitation on May 20. He turned himself in after traveling to Utah from his home in Miami and was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail where he remains in custody
Another man Alisa was allegedly talking to, William Taylor Glines, 37, from Texas City, Texas, was arrested on May 8 and remains in custody.

Accused pedophile Samuel Teancum Mitchell, [photo], 41, from Herriman, a few streets away from the teenager’s home in South Jordan, Utah, has been arrested for sexually exploiting Alisa online before she disappeared

William Taylor Glines, [photo], 37, from Texas City, Texas, allegedly had graphic sexual conversations with Alisa before she ran away, is charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted aggravated exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation

Miami based tech sales executive, Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, [photo], the man she ran away to meet, was charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation. He traveled to South Lake, turned himself in and remains in custody 

Glines was charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted aggravated exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation.
Charged by police in Texas with possessing more than 50 child sexual abuse images or videos, he is yet to enter a plea. 
The probable cause affidavit detailed disturbing conversations between Glines and Alisa, including how The third alleged pedophile, 41-year-old Samuel Teancum Mitchell, who allegedly was grooming Alisa days before she disappeared, lived in Herriman, Utah, only streets away from Alisa’s home in South Jordan. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, on Wednesday May 28.
Police found no child porn of Alisa on his phone, but allegedly found disturbing conversations with two other girls, one confirmed to be 15 and another who appeared to be about 12, and nude photos and videos of both of minor girls.
Messages between the pair on Alisa’s iPad, exchanged through Discord and Snapchat, according to a search warrant, included Alisa asking Mitchell to ‘kidnap’ her while she was on a family ski trip. She also informed him she was running away from home two days before she went missing.