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Teenage girl was 'baited' to meet man on Instagram before disappearing

The parents of a missing 15-year-old girl fear the teenager may have disappeared meeting a man she had been chatting to on Instagram.

Gracie Hewartson of Hopkins, Michigan, in the US, was last seen around 3.30pm on Friday (local time), according to her parents.

Pictured is missing 15-year-old Gracie Hewartson, believed to have disappeared meeting a man she had been chatting to on Instagram.
Friends of Gracie Hewartson (pictured) told her parents she had been in contact with a man on Instagram before she disappeared. Source: Help Us Find Gracie Hewartson / Facebook

Her parents Darrin and Micki Hewartson, who have been searching for their daughter, said Gracie’s friends told them she had been in contact with a man on Instagram.

"They said that he offered her a place where she can live with him," Mr Hewartson told Atlanta’s NBC-affiliated TV program 11 Alive.

The missing teen’s friend reportedly told the Hewartsons that she warned Gracie it wasn't a good idea to talk to the mystery man, but she did it anyway, her mother said.

Gracie Hewartson, of Hopkins, Minnesota, in the US, was last seen around 3.30pm on Friday, according to her parents. Source: Help Us Find Gracie Hewartson / Facebook
Gracie Hewartson, of Hopkins, Minnesota, in the US, was last seen around 3.30pm on Friday, according to her parents. Source: Help Us Find Gracie Hewartson / Facebook

The worried parents believe Gracie is now with the man she went to meet and that she went "willingly," her dad told the news program.

"But she was being baited. She went under the prospect of 'come live with me and I'll take care of you and everything will be OK and you'll never have to be found again'," Mr Hewartson said.

Gracie’s parents have set up a Facebook page to share updates and to encourage others to help search for their daughter.

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