Missing 16-Year-Old Girl Found Hidden Inside Sex Offender’s Closet 4 Months After Disappearance

A Colorado man is facing multiple felony charges after a tip led police to his home, where they discovered a missing Missouri teen. Loved ones reported the unidentified 16-year-old missing from Columbia after she went silent on social media on December 6, 2024. Maximilian Bondrescu, a registered sex offender, allegedly rented a car in late 2024 and traveled to Missouri. He returned to Fort Collins a short time later with the girl. More than four months after her disappearance, a tip led investigators to 44-year-old Bondrescu and the missing teen.

Fort Collins Police Services shared details of Bondrescu’s arrest on Facebook. On April 18, 2025, the Fort Collins Police Cyber Crimes Unit began investigating a kidnapping tip from the Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force. Police believed the missing teen had ties to the Fort Collins area. An investigation led detectives and the Fort Collins Police SWAT Team to serve a warrant at Bondrescu’s home.

Bondrescu allegedly denied the teen was inside his home, but investigators found her hidden in a closet. She reportedly told police her kidnapper held her in his home against her will, the police statement shared. The teen claimed Bondrescu let her out of the house to work for his snow removal company, FoCo Sno GO. She told police her captor required her to wear a mask while working to conceal her identity.

“The importance of the work done by the Fort Collins Police Cyber Crime Unit, and similar units across the nation play a vital role in helping to keep our children safe,” Fort Collins Police Assistant Chief Kristy Volesky shared in the statement on Facebook. “Had it not been for the diligent work of these detectives, the juvenile could have continued to be victimized. Our investigators will now work closely with the District Attorney’s Office to ensure justice for this child.”

Police arrested Bondrescu, and he faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including second-degree kidnapping of a child, sexual assault on a child, second-degree assault, false imprisonment, incomplete sex offender registration, child abuse, harboring a minor, and obstructing a peace officer. According to online records, a judge ordered him to stay in Larimar County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond. His next court date is May 5.

The case remains under investigation. Police ask anyone who used FoCo Sno GO or who might have information to call Detective David Guy at (970) 416-2026.