Teen found after meeting his 42-year-old online 'soulmate'

Globe and Mail ^ | January 1, 2010 | Siri Agrell

[Loyalist]

On Tuesday evening, 16-year-old Andrew Kane nonchalantly asked his mother and father if they would drive him from their Barrie, Ont., home to a hotel in nearby Midland, where he planned to meet a 42-year-old woman with whom he had been having a secret relationship over the Internet.

His stunned parents refused and the teen calmly returned to the computer, telling them he would let the woman know he wasn't coming. At 2 a.m., Marlene Kane heard her front door open, and found her son gone, leaving behind a troubling trail of web chats that led to Houston, Tex., and the World of Warcraft.

The Grade 11 student was found Thursday afternoon, after his parents spent two days desperately appealing for his safe return. On Wednesday, police had released pictures of Lauri Price, a Texas mother of four who had allegedly flown to Toronto and driven a rental car to collect the teen after striking up a relationship with him while playing the popular online game.

“All they had to do was read the chat logs and they were immediately concerned,” Ms. Kane said of her son's relationship with the woman. “He said she was his soulmate.”

Sergeant Robert Allan of the Barrie police said the couple was found Thursday afternoon at a Future Shop in Orillia after a tip from the public. The teenager had told Ms. Price he was 20 – the age of consent in Canada is 16 – and police said she will not face criminal charges.

[Cailleach]

but doesn’t serving in the military count as working a guvment job?

I’m happy with returning it to landowners only. :)

[buccaneer81]

Age of consent should be 16. Drinking age should be lowered back to 18. Voting age ought to be raised back up to 21.

Agree 100%

[fieldmarshaldj]

It could, but I’d exempt them. If you’re risking life and limb for country, you deserve a vote. ;-)

Landowners, yes, that might not be such a bad idea, either, to return to that. The Founding Fathers knew who had the biggest stake in America and seeing her succeed vs. the parasites.

[castlegreyskull]

The kid lied about his age, according to the article. The woman on the other hand doesn’t seem like the brightest bulb though. Traveling to another country to pick up a man she thought was 22 years younger than her to become the stepfather of her 4 children, is a bit insane.