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    • Mental health, internet use implicated in St. Cloud suicide, youth parade
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    Mental health, internet use implicated in St. Cloud suicide, youth parade

    Mars Posted on

    A St. Cloud Police Department SWAT team response earlier this month resulted in the suicide of a 53-year-old man and the recovery of a 14-year-old Morrison County runaway.

    Much of what led to the situation on October 2 has remained a mystery, but search warrants from the St. Cloud Police Department have provided insight into the circumstances that led to the event and what the officers found when they arrived at the St. Cloud home.

    On September 29, pursuant to search warrants, the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a missing young girl. The victim’s mother told police that her daughter had gone missing the night before.

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    Her mother said the girl suffered from mental health problems and was developmentally delayed compared to others her age, making her “vulnerable to outside influences”.

    Police confirmed the girl ran away when the mother provided them with a letter from the 14-year-old girl, stating she was unhappy at home.

    A few days later, police contacted the victim’s boyfriend and discovered she was using Discord to chat with people online.

    After reviewing the girl’s online history, investigators discovered on Oct. 1 that the teen was using a second cell phone that her parents didn’t know existed. They also discovered a letter written by the child to his parents, saying: “I’m staying in a safe place…I have someone to take me.” ยป

    When officers looked through the contacts listed in the phone, they discovered one named “Ben.” However, the man associated with that number was not named Ben. He was Scott Carlstrom of Casselberry Road in St. Cloud, according to the report.

    Officers went to Carlstrom’s home on Oct. 2 and the man allegedly admitted he was harboring the girl because of her situation at the home, according to the warrant. He said he didn’t know she was missing.

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    Carlstrom told police he met the girl online and chatted with her via instant message and FaceTime.

    A statement from the St. Cloud Police Department says the man convinced her to stay with him and picked her up from her home in Morrison County. The release reports that she stayed with Carlstrom “during the time she was listed as a runaway.”

    According to the arrest warrant, the 53-year-old then told his son he loved him before walking down the hallway and entering a bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

    The search warrant says officers heard the man make comments about how “he couldn’t go to jail.” Law enforcement attempted to communicate with the man for a short time before hearing muffled gunshots coming from the room he was in.

    Authorities recovered several cell phones, computers, hard drives and a tablet from the property, according to the warrant. Two handgun pistols were also recovered.

    The search warrants also allege the girl was talking to at least one other man online. Some of these conversations were sexual in nature.

    Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be contacted at [email protected].

    Mars
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