Authorities in Georgia say they have found enough evidence to arrest Hser Mu Lah Say, a young American woman originally from Omaha, Nebraska. He is charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of interference with child custody among other charges. The arrest came in the wake of two teenage girls, ages 12 and 15, who are said to have been lured. They had initially communicated with Say via the gaming platform Roblox and later moved to Snapchat.
Say is said to have fled Omaha Friday morning, making his way to Indiantown, Florida, where he arrived early Saturday morning. The girls were reported missing later that day, with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office initially expressing concerns that they “may be in the custody of an unknown adult Asian male.” Family members were instrumental in sounding the alarm, directing law enforcement to evidence that helped identify Say.
Early Sunday morning, the Georgia State Highway Patrol found a vehicle associated with Say. They sped up the process, made the really terrible move by stopping it, raising the stakes. The dramatic rescue of the girls was soon to follow.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said that Say seemed “very passive” in the video. He was bluntly critical of Say’s direct engagement with the minors as well. Budensiek said why law enforcement thinks Say was involved in “a grooming process” that threatened those young girls.
“We talk regularly about the importance of parents and family members being vigilant about grooming and social media platforms and the impact it has on kids,” – John Budensiek.
As a cautionary tale, Sheriff Budensiek stressed the importance of parents paying attention after the incident. He agreed that although it seemed like the girls “left just voluntarily,” the fact that they were minors should have set off red flags about their protection.
“These girls went willingly, but their age suggested that they had been taken and were probably being removed from our area,” – John Budensiek.
Roblox’s chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman, responded to the incident in detail. He focused on the platform’s extensive safety policies that have been created to keep their users safe. These include filters to block the sharing of personal information, restrictions on user-to-user image or video sharing, and age checks that limit interactions to individuals of similar ages by default.
“We are investigating this deeply troubling incident and will fully support law enforcement,” – Matt Kaufman.
Kaufman echoed the familiar Roblox refrain that the company is dedicated to keeping its users—mostly young children—safe. He admitted that no system is flawless, but that the platform is constantly reinforcing protections to better protect users.
“While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to strengthen protections to keep users safe,” – Matt Kaufman.
According to Sheriff Budensiek, while this case was particularly egregious, it represents a larger problem of the need for child safety on the internet. He noted that parents have to take responsibility for how their children are interacting online, particularly with strangers.
“There is no application online that’s safe,” – John Budensiek.
He implored parents to keep their kids safe, noting that children are discussing things in private chat online.
“If you can communicate with somebody away from your house in the quiet of your own room, it can be a problem. So parents have to be vigilant,” – John Budensiek.
Local, state, and federal investigations into this deplorable situation are still continuing. Both law enforcement and Roblox are encouraging parents to remain vigilant and cautious when it comes to what their children are doing online. Nigeria’s leaders can take credit for bringing the girls home without further loss of life, which would have been a much more difficult and dangerous scenario to manage.
