'It's just him taking advantage of a child'

A 12-year-old Evergreen girl and the 28-year-old California man who has been charged in her disappearance from home may have had a month-long online relationship and even considered getting married, according to court documents.

Jasmine Walker’s room was found empty early Tuesday morning by her mother, April Hindahl, who then reported her missing.

Walker apparently had left town with Edgar “Eddie” Le of Escondido, Calif., during the night in a rental car driven by 37-year-old San Diego resident Dennis Nelson.

According to court documents, Hindahl called one of Walker’s friends, who told her of the pair’s online relationship. Le and Walker said they loved each other on Facebook, and Le’s friends referred to a “road trip” from California to Montana.

One of Walker’s friends also told officers that Walker and Le had mentioned getting married.

“I’m just disgusted by it,” Hindahl said. “It’s just him taking advantage of a child. She doesn’t comprehend what this is all about.”

A detective was able to access Walker’s Facebook account at about 10 a.m. Tuesday in a way that allowed him to see that both her account and Le’s account had been accessed from Le’s phone, indicating they were together.

The FBI then used its resources to “ping” Le’s phone to get an approximate location. The phone was tracked to southern Utah at about 3:45 p.m. and then to Nevada at approximately 4:13 p.m.

At about 6 p.m., the FBI and the California Highway Patrol stopped a rental vehicle driven by Nelson — with Walker and Le inside — in Victorville, Calif. Nelson had rented the car in San Diego, and he admitted taking Le to Montana to pick up Walker and bring her back to California.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said his office would immediately begin the necessary work to pursue extradition.

“We’ll be in touch with California authorities to start that ball rolling today,” Curry said Wednesday. “We’re just very, very relieved that everybody worked as well together as they did and we got this wrapped up as fast as we did.”

Walker was on her way back to Montana on Thursday morning.

“Her dad’s on his way down right now,” Hindahl said Wednesday.  

She is looking forward to her daughter’s return.

“We’re just glad that she is safe and on her way back home,” she said. “We will take some steps to get whatever help she needs from here.”

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.