Police are trawling a missing British teen's Facebook and instant messaging files after she apparently fled the UK with a 49-year-old man who befriended her online.
Detectives suspect Robert Williams, 49, who also uses the name Dave Ingram, groomed schoolgirl Laura Stainforth, 15, on internet social networking sites for six months before they were seen together at Dover on the weekend, according to the UK Telegraph .
"We are extremely concerned," Detective Inspector Martin Steel from Humberside police said.
"We know Laura has been communicating with this man in an internet chatroom for some months and we want to know what his motives are."
Laura, from Cleethorpes on England's east coast was last seen by her parents on Wednesday.
Police recovered CCTV images showing of the pair at a railway station that night and believe they travelled to London and then Dover, where they may have taken a ferry across the channel.
Police say Mr Williams does not have a criminal record but has reportedly befriended several girls on Facebook and communicates with them through chat service MSN Instant Messenger.
Mr Williams is listed as a "friend" on Laura's Facebook profile and police said they had been communicating through the site for almost six months.
Detectives are now searching the internet activity history on Laura's computer in hope of finding details of their plans to run away together.
Laura's parents were too upset to comment but her aunt has launched an online appeal for her return.
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