LAVA HOT SPRINGS — A 42-year-old man faces a kidnapping charge after authorities say he took a 16-year-old girl he met on a dating app intended for married people seeking discreet affairs from the Salt Lake City area to Lava Hot Springs on Friday.

Anthony Raymond Holm, of Star Valley, Wyoming, has been charged with felony second-degree kidnapping following an investigation involving the sheriff’s offices in Bannock County and Box Elder County, Utah, that began to unfold around 3:30 p.m. Friday, according to sheriff’s office reports and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Monday.

Bannock County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Matt Coito was already nearby and responded to the Lava Hot Springs area immediately following a request from the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office to search for a kidnapping suspect, later identified as Holm, and a missing teenager, authorities said.

Within about 10 minutes, Coito located a tan 2024 Ford Bronco, which matched the description of Holm’s vehicle, parked behind the Lava Spa & Motel at 196 Main St., the report says. While another deputy was speaking to staff at the front desk, a third deputy pulled into the parking lot and his squealing brakes caused Holm to exit the hotel to check the commotion. He was contacted by Coito, the sheriff’s office said.

Holm told deputies he knew why law enforcement was there, claiming he met the teenager through an app called Ashley Madison on Thursday and was told she was 18 years old, authorities said.

Holm said he picked the girl up at Grammy’s Fruit & Produce in Willard, Utah, around 6 p.m., staying at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City before traveling to Lava Hot Springs, according to the report.

The missing teenager was found crying and shaking on the bathroom floor inside the hotel room, telling deputies she was not injured but scared, the report said.

The victim also told deputies she met Holm through the Ashley Madison app, admitting that she told him she was 18 years old, the report says.

After Holm picked her up in Willard, they traveled in his SUV to Salt Lake City, where they stayed one night before traveling to Lava Hot Springs on Friday, authorities said.

She told deputies Holm planned to take her back to Utah on Saturday but she was afraid to go home, according to the report.

Ashley Madison is a controversial dating service founded in 2002 that markets itself to people seeking extramarital affairs, according to a May 2024 article in The Guardian. The app requires users to be 18 or older and to purchase credits to message other users, according to the Apple App Store.

The Toronto-based company gained notoriety following a 2015 data breach that exposed personal information for more than 30 million users, according to The Guardian.

Following the investigation, Holm was arrested and transported to the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello. The victim was safely reunited with her parents.

When asked about the request for assistance from across state lines, Bannock County Sheriff Tony Manu said, “It’s not that common, but I’m not going to say it never happens.”

Additional charges in Box Elder County may be forthcoming, authorities said.

The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office in a Tuesday news release said it appreciates the cooperation of the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office and all involved agencies in helping ensure the juvenile’s safe return.

Holm appeared before 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste for an arraignment hearing Monday, where his bond was set at $25,000. Holm posted the bond Monday and was released from jail.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 25 for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.

If convicted of felony second-degree kidnapping, Holm faces a potential sentence of no less than one and up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.