An on-duty U.S. Marine was apprehended this week after allegedly journeying from North Carolina to Indiana with the intent to “meet, kidnap, and sexually assault” a 12-year-old girl, according to the FBI.

William Richard Roy, a 24-year-old stationed at Camp Lejeune, was detained by federal agents in Durham, North Carolina, on October 26, as reported by the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office.

The investigation commenced on October 25 when the FBI’s Merrillville Resident Agency in Indianapolis received a tip from the Hammond Police Department about a missing 12-year-old girl. It was believed she was traveling with Roy after her grandmother had reported her disappearance earlier that day.

“Through collaborative efforts between the FBI, Hammond Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service, it was discovered that Roy reportedly flew to Chicago on October 24, 2025. The subsequent day, he took an Uber to Hammond, where he encountered the girl at a park,” the FBI detailed. “The pair then traveled via Uber back to Chicago, stayed overnight in a hotel, and later boarded a Greyhound bus headed for Durham, North Carolina.”

The entrance to Camp Lejeune Marine Base in Jacksonville, N.C., where William Richard Roy was stationed, is pictured. His arrest was announced by the FBI this week. (Allen G. Breed/AP; Durham County Sheriff’s Office)

“When the bus arrived in Durham on October 26, agents from the FBI Charlotte Field Office’s Greensboro and Raleigh Resident Agencies took Roy into custody and safely recovered the child,” the FBI also said.

An FBI Indianapolis spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday that Roy claimed he met the child on TikTok.

An American flag is pictured at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. (Fred Marie/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)

Roy is now facing federal charges of enticement of a minor to travel for illicit sexual activity, transportation of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.

William Richard Roy is an active-duty U.S. Marine, according to the FBI. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

The Marines did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.