Missing Tampa Girl Found In South Florida With 38-Year-Old Man Teen Met Online

A missing Tampa girl was found safe after she ran off to meet a 38-year-old man. The 13-year-old girl was reported missing Saturday after her family couldn't find her at her Plant City home. Thankfully she was found in South Florida Tuesday after a long search. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced that the girl was left her home without permission early in the morning between 1 and 3 a.m. to meet up with random man she met online.

After she disappeared, she was listed as an endangered missing juvenile by the sheriff's office. This prompted a statewide missing child alert by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Her family and police were searching for nearly a week and found the missing Tampa girl in Broward County with 38-year-old Edward Rodriguez. Police discovered that she met the man online and left her family house in the middle of the night to secretly meet up with him. She had no contact with her family or friends and was planning to hid out with him for as long as possible. Luckily, deputies were able to find and rescue her from what could have been an even worse situation.

According to WFLA, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, “We are immensely grateful that this young girl has been found. I want to extend my deepest thanks to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals for their quick and effective support. Our joint efforts have brought a young girl home to her family, and that is what truly matters.” Rodriguez was arrested and taken into custody. He is currently facing one count of interference with child custody with possible additional charges. They are going to throw the book at Rodriguez for helping the teen runaway from home.

According to the Federal Bureau Of Investigation, the definition of a mass shooting is an event in which one or more individuals are actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. I live in St. Petersburg and there was 1 mass shooting that happened on March 31st.Thankfully nobody died but there were 4 people injured. With that being said, St. Pete is not one of the Florida cities that have the most mass shootings this year. You will find the cities below.

We are only in August and I was was shocked that there has already been 261 mass shootings in the United States. According to CBS news, 72 of those mass shootings happened in the month of June. Over the span of three days in June there were 14 mass shootings. Several incidents occurred including the one in Michigan where a man pulled up to a splash pad and opened fire. Thankfully nobody died but 9 were injured. There was also a drive by shooting in fort Lauderdale that left one person dead and four injured. I really wish we could solve this gun violence problem in America, but I don't think it will ever happen.

When I first researched this information, I was shocked at some of the cities that made the list. Before looking below, what cities would you guess had the most mass shootings? Each of the cities below has had 2 mass shootings so far in 2024. There were not casualties in some of these incidents. There were however people injured in all of them. Please stay safe and always be aware of your surroundings. Below you will find the 5 Florida cities with the most mass shootings in 2024.

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Palm Bay is one of the Florida cities with the most mass shootings in 2024. The first mass shooting incident happened January 20, 2024. 3 victims were killed and two of them were injured. The second mass shooting incident happened on January 28, 2024. 3 victims were killed and two were injured. The suspect in this situation was also killed.

I love Orlando but they are also a Florida city with the most mass shootings in 2024. The first incident happened on  February 28, 2024. 1 person was killed and 6 were injured. On April 11th, 2024, the second mass shooting in Orlando took place. 1 person was killed and 3 were injured.

The first mass shooting of 2024 happened in Pensacola on June 2nd. Nobody was killed but 4 people were inured. The second mass shooting happened on July 28th. 2 people were killed and 5 victims were injured.

The first mass shooting of this year that happened in Fort Lauderdale was on June 14th. 1 person was killed and 4 victims were injured. The second mass shooting happened July 8th were 2 people were killed and 3 were injured.

Tampa has also had two shootings so far in 2024. The first shooting happened on June 23rd where 1 was killed and 3 people were injured. The second one happened on July 5th were 5 people were injured.