Troopers find missing girl during I-15 traffic stop near Hurricane

ST. GEORGE — A juvenile reported missing in Massachusetts was found Wednesday during a traffic stop just north of Hurricane on Interstate 15 — the second traffic stop involving suspected crimes against children this week.

2017 file photo of Utah Highway Patrol troopers on I-15 southbound near mile marker 4, St. George, Utah, Jan. 3, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

On Wednesday, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper observing traffic noticed a vehicle make a rapid lane change in front of a larger vehicle as the car headed south along I-15, according to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest.

The trooper stopped the vehicle at mile marker 19, 3 miles north of the Hurricane Exit, and noted that he detected the odor of marijuana as he approached the car.

While speaking to the driver, 35-year-old Tevon Jarell Cullors-Tillman, of Las Vegas, the trooper saw an open container of alcohol in the car and advised the occupants that the vehicle would be searched, the report states.

While going through the vehicle, officers say they found suspected marijuana under the front passenger’s seat, and more in the driver’s side door compartment.

The trooper said his suspicions were raised while speaking to the passenger, who initially provided a name and date of birth that turned out to be false. When the teen was accurately identified, troopers received information from the National Crime Information Center, indicating that the youth had been reported as a missing-endangered juvenile by authorities in Massachusetts.

The driver was arrested and transported to the Utah Highway Patrol section office in Hurricane, while the teen was transported to the Washington County Children’s Justice Center in St. George.

Through the course of the investigation, officers learned that Cullors-Tillman began communicating with the girl online and then purchased her a bus ticket from Massachusetts to Denver. When the bus arrived, the suspect was waiting at the bus station in a rental car to pick her up.

Once she was in the car, authorities say “the juvenile victim was completely dependent” upon the suspect and thought they were driving to Las Vegas. It was only after she was in the car that she discovered the suspect had “changed the location to California.”

Investigators learned that the girl “had been subjected to” prior incidents involving prostitution and suspected she would “be further involved in prostitution” once they arrived at their destination.

Stock image | Photo by Roman Babakin/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

The investigator also noted that the girl feared the suspect would “hurt her or her family.”

When St. George News reached out to Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden for additional information related to the suspect and the status of the juvenile, he said the incident is still under investigation so they are unable to release any further details at this time.

Following the traffic stop and interview conducted late Wednesday, the suspect was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail shortly before midnight facing one first-degree felony count of human trafficking for labor.

He also faces one count each of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and endangerment of a child, each a third-degree felony, as well four misdemeanor charges: harboring a runaway, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of marijuana, and open container.

Troopers also requested that Cullors-Tillman be held without bail, citing the suspect has no ties to Utah and multiple places of residence out of state. The trooper also noted the arrest involved multiple felony charges, as well as an “endangered juvenile victim,” which presents “clear and convincing evidence there is a substantial danger to the victim and to possible further victims in the community.”

This was the second traffic stop that led to reports of criminal activity involving children. On Tuesday, two Southern California men crashed on southbound I-15 near New Harmony, and while processing the scene, UHP troopers reportedly found more than $30,000 in cash and hundreds of images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Luis David Nivelo, 20, was arrested and booked into jail facing first-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor, and both suspects, including the passenger, 19-year-old Victor Hernandez, 19, each face felony money laundering and other charges.

Following the arrest on Wednesday, the request was approved and Cullors-Tillman remains in custody on a no-bail hold.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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