Drug charge dropped against 20-year-old found with missing 14-year-old Erie girl in Ohio

A Lawrence County man found at an Ohio park with a 14-year-old Erie girl who was reported missing and possibly endangered earlier this month is no longer facing a drug charge.

A fifth-degree felony count of possession of a controlled substance that the Ohio State Highway Patrol filed against New Castle resident John R. Wolfe, 20, on April 17 was dismissed in Portage County, Ohio, court on Friday, according to court records. Wolfe was fined $25 in the case, according to the records.

Police had accused Wolfe of being in possession of suspected Adderall when he and the 14-year-old girl were found at West Branch State Park in Edinburg Township, Portage County, on the early morning of April 17. Authorities in Pennsylvania and Ohio had been looking for the girl when officials said Wolfe's car was found at the park, and he and the girl were later located.

More: Search for missing 14-year-old Erie girl ends at Ohio park where she was found unharmed

What set off the search?

Erie police said the 14-year-old girl was reported missing to them on the evening of April 16. The girl's mother said her daughter, whom she had last seen two days earlier, reportedly ran away with a 20-year-old man, police said at the time.

Police learned the pair may have fled to New Castle and asked the New Castle Police Department to check a residence there, but when police arrived at the residence they learned the pair left before police arrived, Erie police Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said.

More: Lawrence County man found with missing 14-year-old Erie girl facing drug charge in Ohio

Police obtained a description of a vehicle possibly used and passed the information along to other law enforcement agencies, including the Pennsylvania State Police. State police issued a Missing and Endangered Person Advisory about the 14-year-old.

According to Lorah, Erie police were later advised by Pittsburgh police that they were in a pursuit involving the suspect vehicle, which then traveled into Ohio and was eventually found at West Branch State Park.

No charges related to the girl's disappearance had been filed in Erie County as of Monday.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Drug charge dropped against man found with missing Erie girl in Ohio