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A seemingly routine traffic stop in Florida took a surprising twist when authorities discovered a missing teenager from North Carolina in the passenger seat of the car.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, 37-year-old Joshua Magraff was driving the vehicle and initially claimed the teenage girl was his 16-year-old “cousin.” However, this story quickly unraveled, leading to Magraff’s arrest.
The incident unfolded on March 8 when Magraff was stopped for allegedly speeding along US 17 near Crescent City, Florida.
Body camera footage released by the sheriff’s department captures Deputy Chewning approaching the vehicle. Upon seeing the girl in the passenger seat, he asked, “Young lady, you wouldn’t happen to have your ID on you, would you?”
Before she could answer, Magraff interjected, asserting, “No sir, this is my little cousin,” while stating she was 16 years old.
Chewning again turned his focus to the teen, asking her to provide her name.
She responded by asking “huh” several times before finally giving the name “Brandy Lewis.”
According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, the teen also provided a 2013 birthday, which would make her just 12 years old.
“The teenager gave the deputy a false name,” they noted in the video footage, “causing concern that she may be in trouble.”
Chewning is then seen in the body camera footage approaching the passenger’s door and explaining that “the name and information you gave me doesn’t come back to anything.”
After giving two more false names and birth dates, the teen was brought back to his patrol car, where she finally gave her real name, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy learned that the teen—who was not identified—was reported missing from North Carolina a month earlier.
“Contact was made with the teen’s mother,” the sheriff’s office said in the statement. “The mother stated she did not know Magraff and she reported her daughter missing on Feb. 16.”
After removing Magraff from the vehicle, the body camera footage showed the deputy confronting the 37-year-old, who was now claiming the teen was a “friend” he’d met in Charlotte.
“How old are you?” Chewning asked, to which Magraff replied “I’m 37.”
“You’re 37 and you’re friends with a 16 year old girl?” Chewning asked before adding, “Yeah she gave me like three different names, three birthdays.”
Magraff told deputies, according to the statement, that he believed the teen was 19 and said they were heading to Orlando to go to the arcade.
During a search of his vehicle, deputies said they discovered 19 counterfeit $100 bills, synthetic marijuana, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
He’s now facing charges of interference in child custody, synthetic marijuana possession, possession of counterfeit currency, contributing to delinquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The teen girl was taken into the custody of the Department of Children and Families until she could be reunited with her mother.
Magraff is currently being held without bond at the Putnam County Jail, according to jail records reviewed by Oxygen. It’s unclear whether he has retained an attorney.