Human trafficking charge filed against suspect connected to disappearance of Beaver County teen
At least two people have formally been charged in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Isabella Phillips, a Beaver County teen who went missing and was found in Ohio over the weekend.
New Sewickley Township Police Chief Greg Carney said 25-year-old Jonathan Crowe of Mansfield, Ohio, is charged with human trafficking, a felony. The Crawford County, Ohio, prosecuting attorney told KDKA-TV that 19-year-old Ashlynn Quaintance of Bucyrus, Ohio, is charged with falsification in the first degree, a misdemeanor.
They traveled across state lines to New Sewickley Township to meet the 17-year-old.
"There were no messages. She left her phone at home. The phone itself was thoroughly cleansed of any prior contact," Carney said.
When Phillips disappeared Friday morning, Carney said they immediately started a ground and aerial search with the help of various agencies in the area where she was last seen by Glen Eden and Zeigler. They believed she may be in a wooded area in the township, but also had some evidence to believe she could be in Ohio.
Eventually, they received a key tip from a neighbor whom she stopped at that morning and made a call.
"That phone call led us to individuals in Ohio, and that was honestly the only lead we had to go on of where she could be," Carney said.
Through a vehicle description and surveillance photos from the area, they were able to track Phillips down Saturday night, alone in Quaintance's apartment in Ohio.
"We all worked amazingly as a team to get that accomplished," Carney said.
Carney said they're not aware of any signs of harm. KDKA-TV learned through court records from Richland County, Ohio, that Crowe spent time in jail after admitting guilt multiple times between 2018 and 2021 for failing to register as a sex offender and failing to notify law enforcement about the address change.
"They had never met face-to-face before any of this," Carney said.
Carney said Phillips connected with Crowe and Quaintance on social media, bonding over K-pop music, and that there's information indicating some potential grooming took place.
While he said Phillips was likely instructed to meet them, and there was some of her own volition to go, it was very out of character.
Carney hopes to send one message to families.
"You just have to use caution if you're going to go meet somebody for the first time, go in a group, go to a public place, try to use some common sense about what you're doing and who you're doing it with," Carney said.
