Mom believes teen daughter was lured by adult online; issues warning to parents

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A Charlotte family is warning other parents after they believe an adult predator lured their daughter to run away.

Marquittia Hopkins says her 14-year-old daughter, Savannah Smith, was supposed to catch the bus to school last Monday in the area of Hoskins Mill Lane and Gossett Avenue.

But instead of getting on the bus, the mother says she believes Smith turned around got into the car of an adult man.

“I believe she got in the car with somebody she met on the internet because we had caught her talking to a person,” Hopkins said.

She says she and Smith’s sister saw evidence of the conversation on Snapchat.

“Please send her home. Please send Savannah home. Don’t rob her of the opportunity to be all she can be,” Hopkins said.

Sunday night, she also gave a warning for parents to watch what their children are doing on social media.

“I will say don’t drop the ball because I was at first checking every so often but after a while after not getting nothing, I dropped the ball,” Hopkins said. “I stopped looking, I stopped checking. We were building a level of trust and she had given me no reason not to trust her.”

The parents say they’ve filed a report with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. WBTV reached out multiple times Sunday but have not received a response.

Hopkins and Smith’s step-father, Kenneth Black, say they’re also worried about the teen’s health because she has asthma and needs her medicine.

“I want Savannah back home. This has been an extremely torturous week,” Black said.

Both are asking anyone with information to call police.

“I want her to know she can come home. She doesn’t have to worry about being fussed at, yelled at because she ran away,” Hopkins added.

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