Snow Camp, NC -- After a 13-year-old North Carolina girl ran away with a man she met online, investigators warn that its easier for kids to keep their online lives secret, than parents might think.
Thirteen-year-old Alexandria was reported missing on Monday. Investigators said she met 18-year-old Tyler Cole online. He drove to North Carolina from West Virginia, stole thousands of dollars from Cagle's house, and the pair drove off.
Cole and Cagle were picked up by authorities along I-85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Wednesday afternoon.
The father of 13-year-old Alexandria Cagle told News 2 on Wednesday that they had dinner together Sunday night, the night before she left, and there were no red flags.
Her parents kept tabs on her phone and their family's computer. They also knew her passwords. However, she was logging on through a device that her parents thought was just to play music, her iPod.
Investigators are warning parents to keep track of what their kids are doing on the web, and not just from their computer.
"We're seeing that with 13, 14 and 15-year-olds. They're very computer literate, very literate as far as what's available out there. And a lot of times, they can tell us what you can do with some of these things," said Randy Jones, with the Alamance County Sheriff's Department.
Jones said kids are logging on at the mall, restaurants, their friend's houses, even the library. He said there are a few things parents can do to stay on top of their internet activity.
Jones said if parents are getting their child a gadget, they have to know what it can do, whether it's a iPod or a cell phone. He said you should also check all of their text messages and monitor what Web sites they're visiting.
He said if kids are on their phone, parents need to look at their usage and take into account how much time they're spending on the Web. Parents should also know what social networks their kids are on and don't just friend them, but log into their account.
According to Jones, parents have to learn kids' online lingo, the numbers, letters and symbols. He said kids can communicate a whole paragraph in just ten key strokes, even if parents don't understand what they've said.
"There are things that seem very innocent to us, that have specific meanings to a lot of folks out there that are moving in those circles," Jones said.
Jones added that if your child has a thumb drive, it's important to find out what's on it. He said they could be storing details about other fictitious names and passwords to log-in to other email accounts or social networks.
While some kids argue that this is an invasion of their privacy, Jones said it's really a matter of their safety.
"We need to be parents and not friends. That's what we're supposed to be. It's nice to have that good relationship, I have that relationship with my kids, both of my sons, but you need to be a parent first and a friend comes second," he said.
WFMY News 2