COLUMBUS, OH — A Columbus man has been federally indicted in the kidnapping, death and alleged dismemberment of a 17-year-old Indiana girl he first met through online gaming, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
Tyler Nike Thomas, 39, is accused in nine federal counts tied to the disappearance of Hailey Buzbee of Fishers, Indiana. Prosecutors say the case began with online contact when Buzbee was 15 and escalated into sexual communication, travel across state lines and a killing that investigators say ended with her remains being hidden in southern Ohio.
How investigators say the online relationship escalated
Federal prosecutors say Thomas and Buzbee connected while playing video games, including Roblox and League of Legends. The indictment alleges that he began communicating with her when she was 15 and started trying to persuade her to engage in sexual activity in May 2024.
The charges describe a relationship that prosecutors say moved from gaming chats to explicit contact. Investigators say deleted Snapchat messages and sexually explicit images were later recovered from Thomas’ phone, including material prosecutors say was created at his Columbus home and at an Airbnb in Logan, Ohio…