A missing Utah teenager has been recovered after walking into a police station to identify herself some six weeks after going missing.
Alisa Petrov, a 15-year-old from South Jordan, Utah, was reported as a “runaway” after having been seen leaving her school in American Fork.
She was reported missing on April 21, two days after her last message to 41-year-old Samuel Teancum Mitchell, with whom she’d had a series of sexual conversations, according to an affidavit obtained by KSL TV.
Three men, Mitchell included, were thereafter investigated concerning her disappearance, with Petrov having wrote to Mitchell: “I’M RUNNING AWAY. Please don’t contact me.” The message was sent on April 19 at 12:34 a.m..
According to the New York Post, their chats had become increasingly sexual, including discussions about condoms, sex games, and plans to meet in person.
Messages were discovered on Petrov’s iPad, which she left behind in her bedroom, while Mitchell was identified after police conducted a reverse search of the phone number he provided to the teenager.
As per the latest reports, Petrov has been located alive and well, having wandered into the Colorado Springs Police Department – some 500 miles from her home – on Sunday evening, six weeks after vanishing.
Prior to that, the 15-year-old had last been seen on security video leaving a train platform in Provo. Her family had offered a $20,000 reward for any information leading to her safe return.
South Jordan Police Department shared a release yesterday (June 2) that reads: “In the evening hours of June 1, 2025, a young female voluntarily made contact with the Colorado Springs, Colorado Police Department and identified herself as Alisa Petrov.
“Alisa’s identity was confirmed. Alisa is in good health and safe with Colorado officials.”
Authorities have not yet determined how Petrov got to the police station or if she was held against her will.
Mitchell, 41, was arrested last Wednesday and charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and enticement of a minor. William Taylor Glines, 37, is in custody in Texas, while a second suspect, Matthew Nicholas Menard, 35, of Florida, turned himself in on Wednesday night.
