A teenage girl who went missing from her Ohio home last month has been found safe, and her family credits actor Nicolas Cage with helping publicize efforts to find her.
Fifteen-year-old Alexis Boroviak was last seen on November 8, when she left her Brooklyn, Ohio home to take her dog out for a walk. After Boroviak failed to return, her family contacted police and began searching for her.
On or around Nov. 18, the girl’s stepfather Britt Ramsey approached Nicholas Cage for help, after finding out the actor was in the area working on a project.
The Raising Arizona star was in the Cleveland area filming his new movie Dog Eat Dog, and agreed to pose for a photo with Ramsey holding a missing-person flyer for Boroviak.
Actor Nicholas Cage shows support for missing Brooklyn teen, Alexis Boroviak https://t.co/IanGnsh0Vl pic.twitter.com/axYrubMq07
— Cleveland 19 News (@cleveland19news) November 18, 2015
Although the image did go viral on social media, it was the hard work of cyber crimes investigators that ultimately led to the girl’s discovery.
She was found alive on Tuesday, Dec. 1, in Missouri with Chris Schroeder, 41. Schroeder allegedly held Boroviak against her will for more than three weeks. The pair had met through the online chat app Kik and made arrangements to meet up.
FOX 8 Cleveland reports that the teen told federal authorities Schroeder picked her up near her home on November 8, and when she got into his vehicle, he immediately ordered her to remove the SIM card from her phone and then broke the card into pieces.
According to a press release from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor’s office, Boroviak was found after investigators uncovered new details about her Facebook account.
The big break came on Monday of this week. Brooklyn Police learned that the missing girl – or someone using information known to her – was using a secondary, fictitious Facebook account to communicate with friends in the Cleveland area. Criminal Analyst Wathey subpoenaed information from Facebook and got the case’s first solid leads.
While Cage’s involvement in search efforts to find Boroviak did not end up playing a role in her rescue, her family is grateful for his help and are hailing the star as a hero.
Britt Ramsey told TMZ on Friday that he believes his viral photo with Cage helped to raise awareness about his stepdaughter, and his notoriety after being photographed with the actor helped him gather support in bad neighborhoods, where he was recognized as “the Nicolas Cage guy.”
Ramsey also told the gossip site that he would like to buy Cage a beer.
Chris Schroeder has been charged on multiple counts and is being held at a Missouri jail on $10,000 bond.
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