From Valleynewslive · · 1m 40s
Missing teen found in ex-teacher's home after 263 days
An Ohio girl vanished in December 2025 and turned up alive in a fired teacher's house nine months later, police say.
In brief
An Ohio girl vanished in December 2025 and turned up alive in a fired teacher's house nine months later, police say. Police came to the same door twice and were turned away, and a first-degree misdemeanor is the only charge filed so far. Originally reported by Valleynewslive.
Nine months, one address
A 16-year-old Springfield, Ohio girl disappeared on Dec. 2, 2025. She was found alive on Aug. 21, 263 days later, inside the home of a 48-year-old former teacher.
The charge is a misdemeanor
Jobe Binkley faces one count of interference with custody, a first-degree misdemeanor. Police say he knowingly let the teen stay at his house while knowing she was reported missing.
He called her outside
When an officer came to the door in August, Binkley allegedly acknowledged the teen was inside, called out to her, and she walked out of the home.
“He called for the teen and she walked out of the home.”
Two earlier visits, two refusals
Officers had already come to the same house twice during the search. Both times he refused to let them in and said she was not there, after being told she was an active missing person.
A trail of school complaints
Springfield City School District put him on leave in November 2024 over his interactions with students. Those claims were ruled unsubstantiated, but he was placed on leave again in January 2025.
Fired, then free on bond
The district fired him in February for violating its technology use policy. He has pleaded not guilty, is out on bond, and has a pretrial hearing later this month. How the two knew each other is still unclear.
The bottom line
Police came to the same door twice and were turned away, and a first-degree misdemeanor is the only charge filed so far.
