Police said Lionel Moore was booked after officers found the girl during a street stop in St. Gabriel.
ST. GABRIEL, LA — A teenage girl reported missing from Baton Rouge in February 2024 was found Saturday in a car driven by a man wanted on a felony warrant, St. Gabriel police said.
The stop has opened a broader investigation into where the girl had been, how long she had been with the man and whether other crimes occurred while she was missing. Police identified the man as Lionel Moore, 39, and said the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services was contacted to assist the juvenile.
St. Gabriel Police Chief Kevin Ambeau said officers first made contact with Moore on Saturday, May 2, after he was seen urinating in a public street. Police checked his driver’s license and found a warrant out of East Baton Rouge Parish. “After a check of driver’s license, we noticed he had warrants for East Baton Rouge for failure to register as a sex offender,” Ambeau said. Officers then looked inside the car Moore was driving and found the girl, who had been reported missing when she was 15. She is now 17, police said. The department has not released her name because she is a juvenile.
Ambeau said an officer at the scene noticed details that raised concern about the girl’s age and identity. The chief said she appeared to be dressed older than her age and gave officers several dates of birth that did not match. Police then worked to confirm who she was. Ambeau said the girl told officers she had been with Moore for close to three years. Police said her mother had reported her missing from Baton Rouge in February 2024. Investigators were able to get the mother’s phone number and contacted her after the girl was found. Ambeau said the mother had moved out of state since making the missing person report.
Moore was taken into custody and booked into the Iberville Parish Jail on the East Baton Rouge Parish warrant, police said. Investigators said he has a prior conviction for indecent behavior with juveniles in Iberville Parish. Police also said Moore has been arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish multiple times on allegations that he failed to register as a sex offender. The current investigation remains active, and police have not said whether Moore will face new charges tied to the girl being found in his car. Officials also have not said where the girl had been living since 2024 or whether anyone else may have been involved.
The case drew attention in St. Gabriel, a small Iberville Parish city south of Baton Rouge, because it began as a street-level encounter and turned into the recovery of a juvenile who had been missing for more than two years. Resident Jeffery Ben said the situation was unsettling for people in the area. “I been here all my life, and I’m 62 years old, and I ain’t never heard of nothing like this,” Ben said. “That’s bad.” Police have not described the girl’s condition when she was found, and officials have not released details about where in the city the stop happened.
Detectives are now looking into whether the case may involve sex trafficking, Ambeau said. He said investigators planned to review body camera video and use facial recognition to see whether the girl appears on any sites connected to trafficking. Police have not said they have confirmed trafficking, and Ambeau described that question as still under review. The role of Children and Family Services is to assist the juvenile after her recovery, police said. The department has not announced a news conference, court date or timeline for when detectives may finish the next stage of the investigation.
As of Wednesday, Moore remained the only person publicly identified by police in connection with the case. The girl has been located, and investigators are still working to determine what happened between her missing person report in February 2024 and the traffic stop on May 2.
Author note: Last updated Wednesday, May 6, 2026.