SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Two men have been charged in connection with the disappearance of a 15-year-old South Jordan girl who has been missing since last month.
Alisa Petrov was last seen on the morning of April 21 when she left her American Fork school. Petrov later received a ride to a Utah Transit Authority train station before getting off the train in Provo and asking people for help getting to Las Vegas.
The South Jordan Police Department has filed multiple charges against Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, of Miami, Florida and William Taylor Glines, 37, from Texas City, Texas. Charges include Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Enticement of a Minor and Criminal Solicitation.
According to police, both Menard and Glines communicated with Petrov before she disappeared on April 21. Despite the charges, Petrov is still at large with police saying she is "attempting to meet individuals she met online using multiple social media platforms and chat applications."
A search warrant for Menard's phone from last month was unsealed on Monday. It gives some additional information, saying that when detectives first began investigating Petrov's disappearance, they found an iPad hidden in her dresser while searching the home.
With the parents' permission, police searched the contents of the iPad and found that Petrov had been talking to someone named "Matt" (later confirmed to be Menard) via Instagram messages. They discussed plans to meet in Las Vegas.
"Matt tells the victim he will fly to Las Vegas for a business trip later in May, and she can lay low until he gets there," the warrant states. "They then planned to fly to Los Angeles, CA together for several days, before ultimately going back to Miami, FL where Matt lives."
The warrant said Miami police then contacted Menard, who admitted to having conversations with Petrov and confirmed his Instagram account through which he was allegedly doing so.
The warrant did not state whether he was taken into custody; however, his phone was seized and shipped to the South Jordan Police Department, who applied for a warrant to search his phone on April 30.
Roy detectives placed on leave pending investigation into alleged sex assault:
Earlier this month, South Jordan Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that identified a Texas man, now identified as Glines, who they believed to have communicated with Petrov before she ran away.
In arrest documents, Glines is accused of having contact with Petrov through social media as early as February 3, and in one conversation, said he was "double checking" that she was 14 or 15 years old. The warrant shows various discussions between the two, with many including explicit sexual language.
Charging documents against Menard show he began communicating with Petrov on or about January 17, and like Glines, also verified that she was 15 years old. He also is accused of using graphic language in his communications.
