Nebraska man charged with kidnapping Florida sisters who he met on Roblox: Sheriff
A Nebraska man accused of kidnapping two teenage sisters in Florida over the weekend after communicating with them on the popular online-gaming platform Roblox was arrested, deputies said.
Hser Mu Lah Say, 19, was charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of interference of child custody.
Hser Mu Lah Say
According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the sisters, 12, and 14, were last seen in Indiantown on Saturday.
A multi-state search by the sheriff’s office, state and federal authorities then began, and on Sunday, the Georgia Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle that was believed to have the sisters.
Say’s vehicle
The sisters were found, and the driver was identified as Say.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek on Monday shared more details in the case.
He said Say has been talking to the girls on Roblox since last summer, and then their communications moved to the app Snapchat.
Say then drove from Nebraska to Florida to take the sisters.
Budensiek said Say could be facing more charges.
Roblox sent the following statement in regards to this latest case:
“We are investigating this deeply troubling incident and will fully support law enforcement. Roblox has robust safety policies to protect users that go beyond many other platforms, and advanced safeguards that monitor for harmful content and communications. We have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information, don’t allow user-to-user image or video sharing, and recently rolled out age checks globally to limit kids and teens to chatting with others their age by default. While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to strengthen protections to keep users safe.”
Roblox has faced several lawsuits and allegations that its platform makes it easier for minors to be groomed, and victims have alleged that the company has failed to report incidents of child victimization.
In October 2025, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that criminal subpoenas were issued to Roblox.
In January, Roblox started requiring mandatory age verification for users who want to access online chat features.
Roblox says users must complete a facial scan to estimate their age before gaining access to chat functions. According to the company, the system places users into age-appropriate default settings, including limits on who they can communicate with.
“So that’s a quick and easy process where we take a quick scan of your face, we estimate your age,” said Eliza Jacobs, senior director of product policy at Roblox.
Jacobs said the goal is to create safer, peer-based interactions for minors on the platform.
“Then, we’ll put you in the right set of defaults and settings to have an age-appropriate experience on the platform, which includes only chatting with folks that are in your peer group,” she said.
NBC6 previously reported on the case of an 11-year-old South Florida girl who investigators say was sexually abused by a 19-year-old man she met through Roblox in 2022. The man, Anthony Borgesano, is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Dolman also represents the family of another 11-year-old girl who he says was groomed on the platform and coerced into sharing explicit images of herself. That civil case has not yet been filed.
In a statement shared through Dolman, the girl’s father reacted to the new safety measures, writing in part:
“…This is a publicly traded company that had every opportunity to implement stringent safety measures to protect children. All Roblox cared about is returning money to shareholders by allowing as many individuals onto their platform as possible, at the expense of children’s safety.”
Just Days After the Two Sisters Disappeared in Florida, Police Discovered They Had Spoken to a Stranger via Roblox. But the Detail That Sent Chills Down Authorities’ Spines Wasn’t in the Game Itself — It Was in What Happened Afterward
In a case that has raised fresh alarms about online grooming and the dangers children face in gaming platforms, two young sisters from Indiantown, Florida, vanished briefly before a swift multi-state rescue. The girls, ages 12 and 15, were reported missing on Saturday, January 31, 2026, prompting an urgent search by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). What investigators uncovered revealed a months-long pattern of communication that began innocently on the popular gaming app Roblox but escalated into a real-world abduction attempt.
The ordeal started when family members called 911 around 8 p.m. that Saturday evening. The sisters had reportedly left home earlier in the day—after being punished for an earlier unauthorized trip to a local park—and failed to return. Their cell phones had been confiscated as discipline, but deputies quickly learned from family that the girls might have been communicating with someone online. Investigators recovered deleted apps and messages, uncovering a disturbing thread: the girls had been in contact with a man since the summer of 2025, initially through Roblox, then shifting to Snapchat.
The suspect, identified as 19-year-old Hser Mu Lah Say (also reported as Hset Mu Lah Say) from Omaha, Nebraska, allegedly groomed the sisters over months. Communications included romantic conversations, though no sexually explicit content was immediately found—though authorities noted forensic work was ongoing. Sheriff John Budensiek described the case as “sobering,” highlighting how the interactions moved from in-game chats to private messaging on Snapchat, where the suspect detailed plans to meet the girls in person.
What sent chills through authorities and the public was what happened next: Say drove nearly 1,500 miles—over 23 hours straight—from Omaha to Indiantown, Florida, to pick up the sisters. He arrived shortly after they went missing, allegedly scooping them up and heading north with the intent to take them across state lines. The girls were found safe but in his vehicle by Georgia State Highway Patrol troopers around 1 a.m. on February 1, 2026, just hours after the initial missing persons report. The vehicle was stopped based on leads connecting Say to the disappearance, and the sisters appeared physically unharmed.
Say was arrested on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of interference with child custody. He remains jailed in Georgia, awaiting extradition to Martin County, Florida. The sheriff emphasized that while the girls went “willingly” due to the grooming, their ages made the act a clear abduction. The case underscored the vulnerability of “very sheltered” children with limited social circles, who may be more susceptible to online attention and manipulation.
Martin County Sheriff Budensiek used the incident to issue a stark warning to parents: monitor online activity closely, especially on platforms like Roblox and Snapchat, which allow private messaging and can facilitate grooming. The sheriff noted the suspect’s cross-country drive as evidence of premeditation and determination, a terrifying escalation from virtual chats to physical action.
The girls were safely returned home, and an AMBER Alert was canceled once they were located. The rapid resolution highlighted effective coordination between local law enforcement, state troopers, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals. However, the case has reignited national conversations about child safety in online gaming environments, where predators can build trust over time before making real-world contact.
Experts point out that platforms like Roblox, with millions of young users, have safety features but also loopholes that determined groomers exploit—moving conversations off-platform to encrypted apps like Snapchat, where messages can disappear. In this instance, even after phones were taken away, the prior communications left a digital trail that investigators followed.
The chilling aspect wasn’t confined to the initial Roblox contact; it was the suspect’s willingness to drive across the country, the detailed planning evident in Snapchat threads, and the speed at which a virtual “friend” became an alleged kidnapper. Authorities recovered evidence of the plot, including messages outlining the pickup and escape plan.
As the investigation continues, including deeper forensic analysis of devices, the focus remains on supporting the sisters’ recovery and preventing similar incidents. Parents are urged to use parental controls, discuss online stranger danger, and report suspicious activity. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office and child safety advocates stress that vigilance can turn potential tragedies into rescues—as it did here.
This case serves as a stark reminder: what starts as in-game fun can lead to real-world peril when strangers exploit trust built over months.
