Missing Orem teen found with 19-year-old homeless man


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OREM -- A 14 year-old girl who was missing for three days is now back home. Police say she spent her time away with a man, who is now under arrest. Officers say the Orem teen ran away with him.

Her parents say they saw the signs and tried to stop this. Family members say the 14-year-old had been communicating with two adult males, one of whom was a convicted sex-offender.

Sunday morning, David Huey made breakfast for his daughter Lauren. But when he went downstairs to wake her up, she wasn't there. He thought maybe she went to work. She wasn't there either and Wasn't seen until Tuesday afternoon.

Family members thought she may have been with 21 year-old Kristoffer Jones of Cedar City - the sex offender.

"They had told her, ‘You cannot see him, you cannot be in contact with him.' That, and before she was missing, she was on the phone with a boy," said Wendy Evans.

They had told her to cut off the relationships, but it appears instead she ran off with another man.

Provo police found Huey with 19-year-old Chrstopher Cox, who has been booked into the Utah County jail on charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Police say more charges are on the way.

He apparently has been living as a transient in the area. He does have a disposable cell phone, but Huey says the phone has been turned off.

Huey says Lauren kept in touch with both men through Facebook even though both parents warned her to stay away.

"You've gotta watch everything they do. Watch their friends. This is what happened…Facebook," Huey said.

"Anybody that wants to be with a 14-year-old that's a lot older, you worry. And you just don't know what's gonna happen. You don't know why they're with them, what their reasoning is," said Evans.

Provo Police say that Cox is homeless. They say he does not have any previous sex-related convictions. They continue to investigate this case and expect to file more charges in coming days.

Written by [Randall Jeppesen](<mailto: rjeppesen@ksl.com>) and [Mike Anderson](<mailto: manderson@ksl.com>).

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