Alisa Petrov seen in images released by police (South Jordan Police Department).
Police in South Jordan, Utah, have announced that two men who allegedly communicated with a missing 15-year-old girl have been arrested.
Alisa Petrov was last reportedly seen on April 21 after being dropped off at school in American Fork, Utah. Instead of attending class, surveillance footage revealed that she boarded a train to Provo, approximately 15 miles away, as reported by East Idaho News. Authorities state that three men had communicated with her before she vanished — and now all face charges.
Matthew Nicholas Menard, a 35-year-old resident of Miami, Florida, has been charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticing a minor, and criminal solicitation. He turned himself in on Wednesday, according to officials. Another individual, Samuel Mitchell, 41, from Herriman, Utah, is also in custody, facing charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and enticing a minor.
The third man, William Taylor Glines, 37, from Texas City, Texas, is charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted aggravated exploitation, sexual exploitation of a minor, enticing a minor, and criminal solicitation, according to South Jordan police. Currently held in Galveston County, Texas, jail, Glines was arrested on May 8 and is being held on charges of online solicitation of a minor, possession of child pornography, and two municipal holds, as indicated by online jail records.
Menard and Petrov had discussed meeting in Las Vegas, according to Miami ABC affiliate WPLG. Mitchell, meanwhile, is alleged to have had sexually explicit conversations with Petrov and other minors, including a girl estimated to be 12 years old, and a girl confirmed to be 15, according to documents obtained by CBS Salt Lake County affiliate KUTV. Investigators reportedly did not identify the children.
“We really want her to come back home,” her father, Nikolai Petrov, told KTVX in a May 20 report. “We will not get her in trouble. We want to be a complete family again.”
The Utah Department of Public Safety has described Alisa as standing 5 feet, 3 inches and 122 pounds. She was wearing baggy jeans, a gray “Harvard University” T-shirt, a black hoodie, and a dark school backpack.
Police ask that anyone with information reach out to the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center at 801-840-4000.
