11-year-old boy back home safe after driving 200 miles to meet Snapchat stranger

CHARLESTON, S.C. – An 11-year-old boy who traveled nearly 200 miles to find a stranger he met on Snapchat is now home safe, thanks to a South Carolina police officer.

Charleston Officer Christopher Braun said the boy drove up next to his patrol car around 12:30 a.m. Monday and said he was lost after driving alone for nearly three hours.

The unidentified 11-year-old, from Simpsonville, told Officer Braun the car belonged to his brother and he was on his way to live with "an unknown male" he met on Snapchat, according to a police news release.

The boy said the Insignia tablet he was using for directions lost its GPS signal, and his Snapchat messages from the unknown male had already disappeared after he read them.

Officer Braun instead asked for the boy's father's name and telephone number. When Charleston police called, the child's father was in the process of reporting his son missing, according to the release.

The father picked his son up and the Insignia tablet was taken into evidence to be analyzed, police said.

No arrests have been made in the case as of Tuesday evening.