2 more arrested in connection with teen who went missing from Provo; family remains hopeful for her return
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- 15-year-old Alisa Petrov is shown in an undated photo.
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- Alisa Petrov, a teen who disappeared and was last seen in Provo, is shown in an undated photo.
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- Missing teen Alisa Petrov is shown in an undated photo.
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- Alisa Petrov, a teen who disappeared and was last seen in Provo, is shown in an undated photo.
A total of three men have now been arrested for their alleged connection to 15-year-old Alisa Petrov, who disappeared over a month ago from the Provo FrontRunner station.
Petrov was reported missing by her parents on April 21, after they said she didn’t go to class and reportedly vanished from her school in American Fork.
Petrov allegedly boarded a Utah Transit Authority FrontRunner train to Provo, and that’s where she was last seen, according to police.
Two of the men in custody and facing charges are from out of state.
Earlier this month, police announced charges against Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, of Miami, and William Taylor Glines, 37, of Texas City, Texas.
Police alleged that both Menard and Glines communicated with Petrov before she left her school.
Glines was taken into custody May 8, after police in Texas City searched his home. He remains in the Galveston County Jail, authorities said.
In a press release issued late Wednesday night, the South Jordan Police Department said Menard turned himself in sometime earlier that evening.
Menard was named by police as a person of interest after they conducted a search of a device in Petrov’s bedroom at her home that revealed the two had been chatting online for months — before she even turned 15 — according to court documents.
The affidavit alleges Menard was knowingly aware of Petrov’s age.
“At one point (Menard) asked (the teen), ‘Are u secretly 15 lol’ to which (the teen) responded, yeppers I’m actually in middle school,” the documents state.
Charging documents allege their conversations were largely sexual in nature, and on numerous occasions, Menard reportedly requested explicit images from Petrov.
A search warrant affidavit revealed the two allegedly discussed plans to meet in Las Vegas, which is where her parents believed she may have traveled to after her disappearance.
Menard was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor and criminal solicitation, South Jordan police said in their update.
Police also identified Samuel Mitchell, 41, of Herriman, who they also allege conversed with Petrov prior to her disappearance.
A search warrant by one of the detectives for Mitchell’s phone found conversations that were sexual in nature and the two allegedly discussed plans to meet up, court documents stated.
The two reportedly started chatting roughly a week before she disappeared.
According to the affidavit, Petrov sent Mitchell a message on April 19 that reads “I’m Running Away, please don’t contact me,” a South Jordan police detective said in the document.
Mitchell was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Despite all of this, Petrov remains missing.
Her aunt Natalia said the family is deeply concerned about Alisa’s whereabouts.
“Alisa has been gone for over a month,” Natalia Petrov said in a phone call with the Daily Herald on Thursday. “It’s extremely stressful. You know, we’re all hoping that maybe finding these men will bring us closer to finding Alisa.”
Natalia went on to say it’s discomforting to hear about the ages of the men who police suspect were chatting with her niece who allegedly were aware of her age.
“That’s unbelievable to me,” she said. “They know they’re in school, they know they need to study, they know they need to be taken care of, and they’re in a safe place with their parents and they shouldn’t be lured away from home.”
Alisa’s parents and family members remain hopeful that she will return home safely.
A website dedicated to finding the teen has listed a $20,000 reward for the person who helps bring her home.
South Jordan police say their work is ongoing to locate Alisa and will continue to follow any additional leads.
Petrov remains a runaway and endangered juvenile, and police plead with anyone with information on her whereabouts to contact them immediately at 801-840-4000.
