Florida man picked up teen girl in Ohio after meeting on World of Warcraft, deputies say

MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man is behind bars after deputies said he traveled to Ohio, picked up a 16-year-old girl he met online, and brought her back to his home in Marion County. 

Thomas Ebersole, 31, of Dunnellon, is facing several charges, including traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity.

"He knew that what he was doing was wrong. And ultimately, we're just very grateful that we're able to catch him and put him in jail," Marion County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Zach Moore said.

Investigators learned Ebersole met the teen girl while playing World of Warcraft. Their communications moved to the Discord app, where their alleged relationship developed.

"Then, through the course of their online relationship, decided that it was a good idea for him to come up and meet her in Ohio, and he ultimately decided to bring her home to his own back here in Florida," Moore said.

According to an arrest affidavit, Ebersole made the roughly 14-hour trek to pick up the 16-year-old girl in Lima, Ohio. The girl's disappearance forced law enforcement to put out a missing child poster.

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"There was indication that she wanted to go with him. However, she is a child. She's underage, and he's 31 years old. Ultimately, what he did was completely wrong, and that's why he's in jail for it," Moore said.

FBI agents and Lima Police detectives tracked the teen down to Ebersole's home after she logged on to her World of Warcraft account while using Ebersole's internet. Investigators matched the IP address with Ebersole's. 

"He admitted once he brought her out [to the deputies] … that he had plans of hiding her in his home, away from her parents, away from other eyes that may notice that a 16-year-old girl was living with this 31-year-old man. And he said that he had plans that one day she would be his wife," Moore said.

Karla Badillo-Urquiola, an online safety expert and assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame, says it's common for kids to form online connections with strangers on these platforms, but it's never been more important for parents to monitor who they're chatting with and how they're doing it. 

"It's hard for parents to actually even know what apps their kids are using unless they're communicating constantly with their kids and have a very trusting relationship," she said. "I think … sort of a strategy that parents can use to sort of avoid these situations is to really have conversations with their teens, get into the technology, understand [it] yourself."

At last check, the teenage girl was in the process of being reunited with her family. Ebersole remained in the Marion County jail as of Thursday night.

FOX 35 has learned Ebersole is Sara Ebersole's ex-husband. She's been missing in Marion County since March 2023. Moore confirms there's no evidence at this time that shows this case is connected to Sara's disappearance.