Runaway, 13, Is Found Safe With Man She Met on Internet

A Panorama City runaway was found safe in Arizona on Wednesday, two days after she set off for North Carolina with a man she met on the Internet.

Cheyenne Simmons, 13, was taken into protective custody after authorities found her at a truck stop near Tombstone.

Michael Allan Hulst, 25, of Jacksonville, N.C., was arrested and could face federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines, authorities said.

Hulst had told friends he hoped to marry Cheyenne and headed west last week to get her. She was discovered missing early Monday.

Cheyenne and Hulst were located after someone who had seen nationwide broadcasts about the missing girl spotted Hulst’s white van and called police.

The two had been communicating since September by computer and telephone, said her guardian Mary Gallegoes, who recently found a phone bill for $480 under Cheyenne’s mattress.

“I want to warn parents,” Gallegoes said, “that if you think your child is just on a little kid’s Web site, you need to wake up. This has been ... sheer terror and fear because of the horror stories we hear over and over about what can happen because of the Internet.”