SOUTH JORDAN, Utah, June 2, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) -- The family of Alisa Petrov -- the 15-year-old South Jordan girl reported "safe" and in "good health" after voluntarily walking into a Colorado Springs police station Sunday and identifying herself as a runaway -- is expressing gratitude to those who helped facilitate her return.
"Thank you everyone for all your help! Thank you for sharing the news, thank you for following, and thank you for the tips!," her father, Nikolai Petrov, posted on social media Monday. "Special thanks to the South Jordan Police Department who worked on weekends, and to the Salt Lake City FBI who helped them. Thank you to all of our friends for your help and support, to Jaz Mia from Missing In America Network for the best emotional support in such stressful situations. Also special thank you to our local community for Praying!"
Alisa had been missing since leaving her school in American Fork on April 21, and taking public transportation to Provo, where she was said to be asking people how she could get to Las Vegas.
Shortly after her disappearance, investigators found a hidden iPad in her family's home and discovered she had been communicating online with adult males from three states. Each man had allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with the juvenile and had been urging her to run away, South Jordan police said.
In the ensuing investigation, all three men were taken into custody. Whether they played a direct role in Alisa's disappearance has yet to be determined.
Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, from Miami, Florida, "self-surrendered to the South Jordan Police Department for the following charges: aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation," his arrest document says.
Herriman resident Samuel Mitchell, 41, was arrested and booked on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.
The third suspect, Texas City man William Taylor Glines, 37, was booked into a Texas jail for investigation of alleged aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted aggravated exploitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and criminal solicitation, according to Texas news station ABC 13.
On Monday afternoon, family members were on their way to Colorado to be reunited with Alisa, while neighbors in their South Jordan neighborhood tied yellow ribbons to utility poles and traffic signs to welcome the teenager home.
