Boy, 11, Drives 200 Miles To Live with a Stranger He Met on Snapchat

An 11-year-old boy was caught driving his brother's car 200 miles to meet a stranger he met on Snapchat.

He was apprehended by police officer Christopher Braun on his way according to a Charleston Police Department press release, which they posted on Twitter.

The incident happened late on Sunday night, when the boy, from Simpsonville had been driving for about three hours.

He had pulled over into a car park at around 12.30am after his GPS had stopped working, telling the officer he was lost.

According to Braun, the boy said he had taken 'his brother's car and drove to Charleston to live with an unknown male he met on Snapchat.'

He had been using his father's tablet to lead him to the address, but it lost signal meaning he lost the address.

The boy had no choice but to ask for help. He provided his name, his father's name and his father's telephone number.

Braun then contacted the boy's dad, who said he was already reporting him missing.

His father and brother then went to pick him up.

Because he had been using Snapchat, he had lost the message that contained the address after 10 seconds. The police are now investigating who the man is, as well as analysing the table that was used to speak to the unknown man in question.

The police are now urging parents to speak to their children about staying safe when using social media.

Simpsonville Police Department investigator James Donnelly told WYFF News 4: "You have somebody who's chatting with an 11-year-old about traveling so we're very cautious about wanting to make sure children are safe on the internet."

Charleston Police Chief Luther T. Reynolds told CNN affiliate WCIV: "I would love tonight, right now, anybody who's watching this, who is a parent of a child, especially an 11-year-old, to sit down with your 11-year-old, right now, right this moment and have a conversation about what you're doing on social media.

"The dangers, the benefits, and things that as a parent we need to talk about every day," he added.

Topics: Driving, US News, crime

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward