LOREI PARKINS - 14 yo - Winter Haven FL

Police searching for missing Winter Haven girl

4:03 PM, Dec 3, 2011




WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Winter Haven Police Department is asking for the public's help in locating a missing 13-year-old girl.

Lorei Parkins was last seen leaving her home Friday morning heading
to Denison Middle School. She has not returned and has not been heard
from.

Parkins is 5'9", 140 pounds with brown hair and dyed bangs. She was
wearing a red or black Denison Middle School shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact Winter Haven police at 863-401-2256.

Winter Haven Police Department

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/224183/8/Police-searching-for-missing-Winter-Haven-girl

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- A 13-year-old Winter Haven girl who went missing on Friday has been found.

Lorei Parkins was last seen leaving her home Friday morning heading
to Denison Middle School. She did not return and had not been heard from
since. Police confirmed that she did arrive at the school on Friday.
Classmates tell police she was at the school throughout the day and left
at approximately 3 p.m.

There are no further details at this time.

Winter Haven Police Department

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/224183/8/Police-searching-for-missing-Winter-Haven-girl

WINTER HAVEN — Police have arrested a man they believe picked up a
13-year-old girl after school, gave her alcohol and took her to
Pinellas County over the weekend.

Matthew B. Calvin

Matthew B. Calvin, 26, of 203 Herbert St., Auburndale, was arrested on a variety of charges.
When Lorei Mashea-Hale Parkins, 13, didn't return home from school Friday, Winter Haven police began searching for her.
Classmates told police that Parkins had changed clothes after her physical
education class and left Denison Middle School about 3 p.m. Friday.
Police found her at 9 p.m. Saturday in a taxi traveling from the Tampa Bay area on her way back to Polk County.
Police later found and arrested Calvin on charges of contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, interfering with child custody and obscene
communication/traveling to meet a minor.
He is being held in the Polk County Jail without bond.
He and Parkins had reportedly met online through a dating service and began talking on Nov. 25, 2011.
Police said Parkins contacted him Friday, he picked her up at Wal-Mart near
the school, and they went to Auburndale with another young man, drank
and then drove Saturday to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg to go fishing.
After she was discovered in the cab, police reunited Parkins with her family.
http://www.newschief.com/article/20111205/LIVING03/111209990/1003/NEWS?Title=Missing-girl-found-man-arrested

Winter Haven police are asking for the public's help in finding a 14-year-old girl.
Lorei Parkins was last seen at her home on Saturday around 6 a.m. She
is possibly wearing a pair of orange "DC" skater type shoes and
carrying a skateboard and pink backpack.

Although Parkins has a history of running away, police are
considering her endangered because she recently threatened to harm
herself.

Anyone who sees Parkins or has any information on her whereabouts is
asked to contact the Winter Haven Police Department at 863.401.2256.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/243932/8/Police-searching-for-missing-Winter-Haven-teen

Police: Missing Winter Haven girl Lorei Parkins, 13, found safe; posed as 19-year-old

Winter Haven, Florida -- A 13-year-old girl who went missing in Winter Haven over the weekend has been found safe.

Police say she was with a man twice her age whom she had met through a dating website that's supposed to be for adults.

To look at her Facebook page, you might never guess that 5'9", 140 pound Lorei Parkins is just 13 years old.

When she went missing this weekend, Winter Haven police started
looking for her everywhere. But had they searched the dating website datehookup.com, they would have found her posing as an adult.

"No matter what, I think you can tell the difference between a
13-year-old and a 19-year-old, even even if they are five feet, nine
inches and 140 pounds," said police spokesperson Jamie Brown.

Investigators say around Thanksgiving, Parkins made an online
connection with 26-year-old Matthew Calvin from Auburndale. This past
Friday, she reportedly asked him to pick her up at a local Walmart.
Investigators say the pair then went drinking, and the next day ended
up together at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge fishing pier in Pinellas
County.

"She had been missing for more than 24 hours, which is critical in any missing persons case," said Brown.

Police say they have no reason to believe anything sexual happened
between the two, but Calvin -- who already has an extensive criminal
record including domestic violence -- is now charged with contributing
to the delinquency of a minor, interfering with child custody, obscene
communication, and traveling to meet a minor.

Police say a relative had warned him "she in fact is not 19, she is 13. You need to leave her alone," said Brown.

"Well, we're often very trusting of what people tell us," said Kelli
Burns, a USF professor specializing in social media. Burns says Calvin,
like many, may have presumed Parkins was over 18 since her profile was
posted on a legitimate dating site.

Burns urges people to thoroughly check a person's background before
meeting, and says parents must be aware of what their kids are doing on
line.

"Check out the sites that they're visiting. Look at your child's
browser history. Look at their phone," said Burns. "See what sort of
photos they're taking and posting on sites."

Detectives say they caught-up with Parkins riding in a taxi on her way back home from St. Petersburg.

Unharmed, she was re-united with her parents. The teen's family
declined to be interviewed, saying they would like to put the whole
ordeal behind them.

Calvin was being held without bond.

Plant City, Florida -- The missing Winter Haven teen with a
history of running away was found by detectives at a Plant City home
Friday.

In this latest incident, 14-year-old Lorei Parkins was reported missing on March 10 and concern was growing because she left home without her medication and had recently threatened to harm herself.

Parkins has a history of running away with men she meets online through a video game console under her alias "Lexie". She was found in another incident in February after she picked up a Walmart shopper
who she tried to convince to drop her off at a local motel. The shopper
called police when she realized Parkins had been reported missing.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies took Parkins into custody
Friday and she was charged with Giving False Information to a Law
Enforcement Officer after she gave them a false name when they
questioned her at the home.

The Winter Haven Police Department and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office are investigating the case.
http://winterhaven.wtsp.com/news/news/113337-runaway-teen-found-plant-city-home