Nationwide — Joniah Walker, an African American teen from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who went missing at 15 and was found safe four years later, was allegedly abducted and held captive by a man she met online. Police said the man abused her throughout the years she was missing.
Walker disappeared in June 2022 after leaving her Milwaukee home to meet Owen Lars Anderson, a man she had been communicating with online for several years. Investigators said Anderson gained her trust by promising her a better life and telling her he would take care of her.
According to the Daily Mail, police said Anderson first contacted Walker through Facebook when she was 12 years old. The two continued communicating for about three years before Anderson convinced her to meet him in person when she was 15.
Authorities said Anderson arranged an Uber ride to pick Walker up from her family’s home and take her to a movie theater in Chicago, Illinois. Police alleged that after meeting her there, he forced her to reset her iPhone and discarded both her phone and a burner phone he had previously given her.
Investigators said Anderson then drove Walker from Illinois to his home in Blacksburg, Virginia, where they alleged he kept her against her will. Police said Walker was sexually, physically, and verbally abused during the four years she was missing.
Police also alleged that Anderson recorded sexual acts and threatened to share the videos if Walker did not follow his demands. Investigators said he also prevented her from attending school while she was living at his home.
Walker was eventually found on May 23 after Blacksburg police responded to a 911 call about a reported domestic disturbance at Anderson’s residence. During the investigation, Walker told officers she was the same teenager who had been reported missing in Wisconsin and said she had been held against her will.
Authorities arrested Anderson on May 27 and later searched his home, where they said they recovered electronic devices, flash drives, journals, and other potential evidence. The FBI is reviewing the digital evidence collected in the case.
Anderson, 37, faces kidnapping, child enticement, and child abduction charges in Wisconsin. He also faces Virginia charges, including abduction, child abuse, and 55 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material. He remains jailed without bond while awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.