Missing teen lured away by video game chat resurfaces

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (AP) – A northwest Mississippi teenager has resurfaced in Illinois, four days after he went missing.

Olive Branch police say 14-year-old John Aubrey Peal III turned himself in to a fire station in Illinois on Sunday.

Peal had been missing since Wednesday. His parents told local news outlets that Peal left after he made plans to meet someone in person whom he contacted using the application Discord. That’s a communication program for people playing video games.

Olive Branch police say they continue to investigate.

Peal’s father says his son turned himself in after seeing social media posts about his disappearance.

Developer Discord Inc. tells WHBQ-TV that it urges users only to chat with people they know and urges parents to teach children about risks of communication with unknown people.

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