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[Draugoth]

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The FBI used a Nintendo Switch console to locate an abducted 15-year-old girl, who had been missing for 11 days back in August 2022, Forbes reports.

Spoiler: Details (Sensitive)

In a horrendous case involving kidnap and sexual exploitation, a teenage girl was found and rescued only after she logged online with her Nintendo Switch.

The unidentified Virginian teenager is a homebody, said family and friends, and unlikely to run away. However, she met a stranger—then 28-year-old Ethan Roberts—on the online chatting platform Omegle in January 2022, when she was just 14 years old. The two talked for a few days, then moved their conversation to Discord and Snapchat. Roberts sent nudes of himself to the girl and requested explicit images of her as well, to which she complied. Later, Roberts traveled 2,000 miles from his apartment in Tolleson, Arizona to the young girl’s hometown. Their encounter culminated in Roberts kidnapping the girl and bringing her back to Arizona. Roberts coerced the teen, “insisting” she meet strangers on Omegle to sell them nudes via Snapchat between August 3, 2022 and August 14, 2022, according to court documents viewed by Kotaku.

When the girl went missing on August 3, folks in Virginia put up fliers to locate her. Keitra Coleman, a volunteer with the local nonprofit Hear Their Voices (which helps find missing and exploited children, domestic violence victims, and people experiencing homelessness), told ABC15 they were on the case.

“We immediately reached out to her family and spoke with her grandmother and her stepdad, and that next day, we were out there ‘boots on the ground.’” Coleman said. “She went through a lot in those few days [and] reminded me so much of my daughter.”

Unfortunately, no one was able to pinpoint her location—until the girl booted up her Nintendo Switch to watch YouTube videos and download a game. A friend saw that she was online and informed the authorities. With Nintendo’s cooperation, the FBI culled the Switch’s IP address, uncovered her location, and moved in to arrest Roberts. Retired Arizona DPS Director Frank Milstead, who was not involved with the case, told ABC15 that police agencies often use digital device tracking info to apprehend suspected criminals and find missing people.

“It’s probably nothing anybody even had thought of at this point,” Milstead said.

“The fact that somebody else down the road—another child—was bright enough to go, ‘Hey, look, my friend is online, and she’s been missing, and I need to tell somebody.’ Everything’s connected to Wi-Fi [and] LTE (long-term evolution devices). A cell phone, an iPad, a watch, whatever it is—you can use those things to locate people. The bad guys need to know that the police are watching and that you’re leaving a digital footprint everywhere you go. We will find you.”

In an email to Kotaku, an FBI representative said this case is proof that no one can escape the agency’s wide reach and expansive resources.

 

[diffusionx]

In an email to Kotaku, an FBI representative said this case is proof that no one can escape the agency’s wide reach and expansive resources.

 

[Draugoth]

People live in other countries:
"Sure thing Mr.FBi agent"

 

[AJUMP23]

Nice to see the FBI do something that doesn't involve subverting justice.

 

[Thaedolus]

Nintendo stays the GOAT family friendly company?

 

[Mr Hyde]

Switch is not only a great gaming device, it's also great at hunting predators and low life scum. Nintendo really values the protection of its audience, whether it be online or in real life.

 

[Thaedolus]

Also JFC lock down your kid’s access to this shit. WTF is she doing on Omegle and Snapchat at that age?

 

[Scotty W]

This doesn’t really make sense. The guy took her back to his house. Why didn’t they just look at the accounts and the traffic on her computer?

 

[Disco Dave]

Some dirty fuckers out there.

 

[Filben]

Why didn’t they just look at the accounts and the traffic on her computer?

I think kids these days rather use a smartphone instead of a computer and the smartphone was probably taken away and turned off by the dude while he thought the Switch was "harmless".

 

[Scotty W]

I think kids these days rather use a smartphone instead of a computer and the smartphone was probably taken away and turned off by the dude while he thought the Switch was "harmless".

But shouldn’t there be some kind of, I don’t know, cloud profile or something?

 

[Hudo]

However, she met a stranger—then 28-year-old Ethan Roberts—on the online chatting platform Omegle in January 2022, when she was just 14 years old.

well, the parents failed big time here. Not that they can prevent this (teenagers gonna teenager...) but apparently they didn't make it clear enough to her that fucking assholes are also using Omegle for shit like this.

 

[Scotty W]

Unfortunately, no one was able to pinpoint her location—until the girl booted up her Nintendo Switch to watch YouTube videos and download a game.

This story does not add up.

Where did she get the wifi password from? Whose credit card was she using?

 

[Thaedolus]

This story does not add up.

Where did she get the wifi password from? Whose credit card was she using?

You can save payment info in your Switch and he probably just gave her the password. Scumbags don’t tend to be very smart.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Catching kidnappers is good doing so with a Nintendo switch is extraordinary.

 

[daclynk]

 

[acm2000]

so in future, make sure you have a vpn set up on your router so your victi...house guests cant be tracked

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Damn even the FBI is falling for QAnon conspiracies.

 

[Fbh]

Nintendo can probably help locate all other missing children even if they don't have a Switch.
Just tell them they are pirating Switch games.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

so in future, make sure you have a vpn set up on your router so your victi...house guests cant be tracked

VPN does nothing to "protect" you in that case. And thank god for that.

 

[Disco Dave]

Nintendo can probably help locate all other missing children even if they don't have a Switch.
Just tell them they are pirating Switch games.

I'd rather take my chances with the kidnappers lol Nintendo go in balls deep

 

[Fbh]

I'd rather take my chances with the kidnappers lol Nintendo go in balls deep

"Hey kid. The good news is Nintendo helped us find you, the bad news is that you now owe them 80% of your paycheck for the rest of your life".

 

[RoboFu]

Also JFC lock down your kid’s access to this shit. WTF is she doing on Omegle and Snapchat at that age?

People don’t know they just know Snapchat has funny photo filters

 

[delfrickintree]

Fake News! Story was cooked up by the feds in cahoots with Nintendo to keep their PRs from drowning. The kid was from VA? C'mon now.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Also JFC lock down your kid’s access to this shit. WTF is she doing on Omegle and Snapchat at that age?

My brother asked me the other week about his daughter getting access to a mobile as her mother thinks it's wise to give her one at a young age. Not only can they get baited into this type of shit socially it'll fuck them up. Both my brother and his ex are fucking useless with tech and wouldn't have a clue how to lock down a device for a younger to use.

I just said to him don't give her one until she's like 18. Or just give her a dummy phone like the ones that are making a bit of a comeback due to limited functionality.

 

[StueyDuck]

But we still don't know how the magic crack got into the Whitehouse



Jokes aside that's pretty crazy considering the switch is really wifi only. Good on them for saving her, hopefully that will lead to more rescues

 

[93xfan]

hope the guy rots in prison for life. Sad that society is so against that.

 

[GigaBowser]

Nintendos won back my heart this years saving gaming with TOTK and now saving childrens

 

[mitch1971]

In an email to Kotaku, an FBI representative said this case is proof that no one can escape the agency’s wide reach and expansive resources.

Except the Hollywood Elite.

 

[93xfan]

Some dirty fuckers out there.

Don’t understand why we can’t lock them away for life.

 

[Thaedolus]

VPN does nothing to "protect" you in that case. And thank god for that.

Wouldn’t it though? Nintendo would be seeing an IP from the VPN company’s pool and any location info would point to them. A VPN company that’s truly anonymizing the data and not storing records wouldn’t even be able to say where it was coming from.

 

[Kilau]

hope the guy rots in prison for life. Sad that society is so against that.

 

[TheCoolDave]

Hmmmm..... dealing with a kidnaper or getting caught by Nintendo pirating a Nintendo game.... I'll take the kidnaper...

all kidding aside, I am glad they got that pervert.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Wouldn’t it though? Nintendo would be seeing an IP from the VPN company’s pool and any location info would point to them. A VPN company that’s truly anonymizing the data and not storing records wouldn’t even be able to say where it was coming from.

"No logs" doesn't exist. Technically impossible. Log entries might get deleted quickly (I highly doubt it), but the traces of your activity are definitely on their servers. And that's just one aspect among many that underline you can't get away with murder on the VPN so to speak. I personally approve of that. I think it's right for intelligence agencies to have backdoor access to these systems, for example.

 

[Kaleinc]

However, she met a stranger—then 28-year-old Ethan Roberts—on the online chatting platform Omegle in January 2022, when she was just 14 years old. The two talked for a few days, then moved their conversation to Discord and Snapchat. Roberts sent nudes of himself to the girl and requested explicit images of her as well, to which she complied

Roberts then requested abduction to which she complied.
14 isn't 4, how degenerate do you have to be lol

 

[Fatal Chuck Yeager]

The girl doesn't seem to have any mental issues and seems to have a sound mind at 14 so the fact they accepted the invitation is odd to me. It's being presented here he was abusive to the girl but from the looks of it the girl probably would have stayed without running if caught and the only reason the whole thing fell apart is because the FBI tracked them.

Reminds me of the story of the 15 year old with the 31 or 32 year old that stole their moms credit card for some boat cruise to somewhere, among doing other things trying to be the lead in distracting people from finding them and the 3oyp was just stringed along and was like "ok" but then the girl was caught and let off, but the guy got registry and 10 years or something.

There are definitely people who manipulate, but some of these just seem to be bad decisions. Parents don't seem to be having talks with their kids anymore. In fact, parents seem to use the very services that help cause the trouble as a babysitting tool for their kids as they do something else.

 

[Thaedolus]

"No logs" doesn't exist. Technically impossible. Log entries might get deleted quickly (I highly doubt it), but the traces of your activity are definitely on their servers. And that's just one aspect among many that underline you can't get away with murder on the VPN so to speak. I personally approve of that. I think it's right for intelligence agencies to have backdoor access to these systems, for example.

So if a VPN service claims they keep zero logs of your activity as verified by multiple outside auditing agencies, they’re just lying about it?

I mean, I’m kinda with you about there being value for law enforcement to have some kind of access when going through proper procedures with probable cause and independent authorization of warrants and such, but that means every VPN service out there is running a scam if they say they don’t log your activity

 

[ReBurn]

The internet was a mistake

 

[semiconscious]

Nice to see the FBI do something that doesn't involve subverting justice.

'even a stopped clock...'

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

So if a VPN service claims they keep zero logs of your activity as verified by multiple outside auditing agencies, they’re just lying about it?

I mean, I’m kinda with you about there being value for law enforcement to have some kind of access when going through proper procedures with probable cause and independent authorization of warrants and such, but that means every VPN service out there is running a scam if they say they don’t log your activity

No. They delete your logfile. It's not possible to not create a digital fingerprint of some sort of your activity while it happens because you're going through their servers. And that activity, stored in a file or not, can be read out with proper equipment and knowhow, let alone be monitored by third entities with access (listening to your interactions).

 

[PendekarRajawali]

Parents will buy millions of switch after reading the news.
Nintendo:

 

[KaiserBecks]

The bad guys need to know that the police are watching and that you’re leaving a digital footprint everywhere you go. We will find you.

How nice of you to let them know. Now the people who were stupid enough to do this will be more careful. Go FBI!

 

[Gankthenew]

I used to think she played games.
But just ytb?
Why the pic is Animal crossing?

 

[Thaedolus]

No. They delete your logfile. It's not possible to not create a digital fingerprint of some sort of your activity while it happens because you're going through their servers. And that activity, stored in a file or not, can be read out with proper equipment and knowhow, let alone be monitored by third entities with access (listening to your interactions).

Seems like for that level of access you’d be talking about an active warrant for surveillance that the VPN company was complying with, or at least was unaware of there being a back door into their system. Doubt that applies in this instance but I could imagine scenarios where it could

 

[Northeastmonk]

This story does not add up.

Where did she get the wifi password from? Whose credit card was she using?

“Hey kidnapper I want to play my Switch with friends. What’s your Wi-Fi password?”.

They could have had no password, which makes you the worlds dumbest criminal.

 

[F0rneus]

*Next time on Criminal Minds*

"A little girl went missing."
"We need a profile."
"Nah....we need a Switch."

 

[nightmare-slain]

That's good they found her but all that really happened is they asked Nintendo for the IP logs of her account, contacted the ISP, and got an address. Quite simple and a common way to track someone. Are we supposed to be impressed that the FBI can force Nintendo/ISPs to cooperate with them?

so in future, make sure you have a vpn set up on your router so your victi...house guests cant be tracked

cute you think a VPN is going to stop the FBI lol.

 

[Scotty W]

“Hey kidnapper I want to play my Switch with friends. What’s your Wi-Fi password?”.

They could have had no password, which makes you the worlds dumbest criminal.

Most routers default to setting a password, so he would probably have to out of his way to have an open network. Given this, and the fact that he was 28 years old and using these apps, he probably had a bare minimum of computer knowledge.

Any way I look at it, I find him so improbably stupid, I can’t take this story at face value.

 

[justiceiro]

Glad that for once videogames helped to rescue victims of pedophiles instead of enabling them.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Sounds like a chill kidnapping if she had time to pack up her Switch and then casually use it to watch YouTube at one point.

I hate news reports like these. They are always frustratingly slim on details such as these. What I wanna know is how she was able to bring her console with her and how is it possible that the idiot who nabbed her didn't consider that it might be traced.