Teen who fled with soccer coach feared older man would ‘mess up her life’ if she did not give in to him: Report

The Florida teen who was found on Friday after nearly a week on the run with the soccer coach at her high school did not want to leave the country with him, her friend claims.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Caitlyn Frisina, 17, left town last weekend with Rion Rodriguez, 27, and the two drove north from Columbia County, making it to Syracuse, New York, before a state trooper recognized their car and pulled them over. Rodriguez was arrested and Frisina has been reunited with her family.

According to court documents obtained by ClickOrlando, a friend of the teen’s told police that while Frisina had “hooked up” with the boys soccer coach, he may have pressured her to become move involved. The friend reportedly told police that Frisina had said she was “scared and didn’t know what to do” about leaving town with Rodriquez.

The report indicates the pair may have planned to leave the country, but did not specify where. As CrimeOnline previously reported, police said last week they believed Rodriguez had family in Canada.

Frisina’s friend told police that the teen had cold feet about trip but didn’t know how to handle it. She was reportedly worried that Rodriguez would “mess up her life” if she didn’t go along with him.

The teen soccer enthusiast happily reunited with her family this weekend.

“We had a very beautiful, wonderful, very emotional reunion with her a little while ago,” the teen’s mother, Scarlet Frisina, said at a news conference on Saturday.

“We are so thankful to have her back.”

“We are looking forward to a lot more time together and being able to get back home and move forward as a family,” she said.

 

[Feature image: Columbia County Sheriff/Caitlyn Frisina]