Missing Whittier girl found in Anza with San Diego man she met online

Update 5:45 p.m.

Whittier police have the 12-year-old girl and the 20-year-old man she met online in their custody, according to a news release.

The investigation is ongoing and no additional details were immediately available.

Update: 12:35 p.m.

Authorities have begun their interviews with Stephanie Brie Rodriguez and the 20-year-old man she met on the Internet.

Original Story

A 12-year-old girl who ran away from her home near Los Angeles with a 20-year-old man she met on the Internet was found unharmed Saturday in Riverside County, a police lieutenant said.

Picture of Stephanie Brie Rodriguez provided on a missing persons poster by the Whittier Police Department.

Stephanie Brie Rodriguez and the man, Ivan Felipe Cerda, were detained by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies near Anza, said Whitter police Lt. Carlos Solorza.

The pair had visited Cerda’s parents in Vista, near Oceanside, Solorza said. They were found on the road leading from there to the Coachella Valley at about 10:45 a.m.

The details surrounding why they were heading Coachella Valley and how deputies pulled the couple over have not yet been released. Police detectives were en route from the southeastern L.A. County city of Whittier to Riverside County to meet the girl and question the man.

Rodriguez reportedly had met Cerda via a chat feature in the Sony Playstation Internet service. He was seen driving her away from her home, in the 11500 block of Broadway Avenue, at about 2 p.m. Friday, Whittier Police Cpl. Jason Zuhlke said.

The pair then drove in Cerda’s 2003 Volkswagen Passat to his mother’s home in Vista on Friday for a short time, Zuhlke said.