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GASTONIA, N.C. (WBTV) - A Gastonia teenager missing for nearly a month was found seven hours away from home in Florida. The man she was with is now behind bars and under federal investigation.

Detectives with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office outside Jacksonville, Florida said on Sunday, March 8, they pulled a car over for speeding. When they started to question the driver, 37-year-old Joshua Magraff, and the teenager in the passenger seat, they knew something was wrong.

Body camera video posted to Facebook shows deputies talking with Magraff and the 16-year-old girl. Magraff can be heard telling deputies the teen is his cousin. That was just the start of a story that deputies say kept changing.

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“We got really nothing, but lies through this whole encounter. So, who knows where they were going,” said Major David Ussery with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Major Ussery said the 16-year-old gave deputies fake names and birthdays, immediately alerting them something wasn’t right.

“It’s hesitations, it’s nervousness, it’s all of the above. It’s just the whole, the whole traffic stop that situation. It just, it raises the hair on the back of your neck, honestly,” Major Ussery said.

Deputies eventually figured out the teen was from Gastonia, and her mom had reported her missing on February 16.

Mary Kathryn Elkins, the Director of Healing Services with Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center in Charlotte, says the teen giving fake names to deputies signals a fear and even possible grooming.

“The fact that she was willing to kind of go along with the ruse tells me that she was probably terrified, and she was probably worried both about herself getting in trouble and also worried about what might happen to her at the hands of this man if she didn’t do what he asked her to do,” Elkins said.

Major Ussery said the video should serve as a warning to parents to always know who your children are with.

“To see how trusting that our victim was in this case, and how comfortable she was with this individual. Obviously there was some type of pre-contact that made her this comfortable with this guy, and unfortunately didn’t know what a monster she potentially could have been with,” Major Ussery said.

Major Ussery says Homeland Security Investigations is now handling the case and Magraff could be facing more charges.

Detectives said the teen has been reunited with her mother and is home safe.

The monument was moved to its current location in 1998.

GASTONIA, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday against the NAACP's effort to remove a Confederate statue from the Gaston County Courthouse.

The court rejected the NAACP's arguments that the 1912 monument violates the state constitution's Open Courts Clause and Equal Protection Clause, finding that placing a historical monument near a courthouse does not violate open court protections and that the NAACP failed to prove the statue produced unequal judicial outcomes for different groups.

The monument, which depicts a nameless Confederate soldier and is located outside of the courthouse building along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, has sparked controversy in recent years. Protests began in 2020, with some believing a compromise could be found with the storage of the monument in a museum. State records show it was built in 1912 and moved to the courthouse in 1998, acting as a tribute to Gaston County members who fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

County commissioners did form a "council of understanding" to determine a course of action, and protests continued with increased calls to remove the statue. While that council of understanding did vote in favor of moving the monument elsewhere, the board of commissioners asked the county attorney to explore the possibility of the issue being put to voters via referendum.

The county commissioners voted 6-1 in August 2020 to remove the monument and hand it over to the Sons of Confederate Veterans to determine where it could be set. Counter-protests in favor of keeping the monument at the courthouse would spring up after the vote. But the future of the monument became uncertain when opposing interpretations of North Carolina's state law came up in discussions between the county attorney and the SCV. Commissioners then voted to allow more time for discussion of what to do with the monument.

An attorney for the SCV told WCNC Charlotte at the time moving the statue would violate the state's 2015 law regarding monuments, and that it was less of a discussion from commissioners and more of an order. Eventually, a coalition of groups filed suit against the county commissioners to get the monument removed. Commissioners moved in 2021 to get the suit dismissed, but that didn't happen.

Instead, the suit came up for summary judgment, meaning no jury trial was held. In his ruling, Judge Ervin said that the county commissioners had not violated state law by not removing the monument. However, he wrote in his ruling that it's up to the board "to decide what messages they wish to communicate either directly or implicitly" to the public. He also cited the adage that "actions speak louder than words", similarly saying that "It is possible inaction may speak just as loudly."

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Gastonia City Council is set to consider a proposed change to the city charter that would limit the mayor’s voting power to tie-breaking situations only.

GASTONIA, N.C. — The Gastonia City Council will consider a proposed change on Tuesday evening to the city charter that could limit when the mayor is allowed to vote.

Right now, the mayor can vote on any issue that comes before the council. The proposed change would restrict that power, allowing the mayor to vote only in the case of a tie.

The decision could significantly shape how the council operates moving forward.

Tension is brewing as members prepare to decide whether to amend the city charter.

Currently, Gastonia is one of just two cities in North Carolina where the mayor can vote on every action brought before the council.

Councilwoman Donyel Barber says she supports the change, noting that previous mayors typically voted only to break ties.

“Previous mayors did not typically vote. The only time they would vote is when a tie needed to be broken,” Barber said.

Mayor Richard Franks strongly opposes the proposal.

“There are certain people that sit in the executive office that want me to be quiet. They want me to be a figurehead. Guess what, there is nothing they can do to me that will keep me from doing the business of the citizens of Gastonia,” Franks said.

Councilwoman Barber says the mayor’s primary responsibility is to preside over meetings and ensure they run smoothly. She believes balancing that role while also voting on every issue can be difficult.

“It’s very difficult to facilitate a meeting, maintain order of the meeting, follow what’s happening to make sure all voices are heard, contemplate and decide debate on how you're going to vote,” Barber said.

She also pointed to concerns about consistency, noting there have been times the mayor chose not to vote, raising questions about when that authority is exercised.

Mayor Franks says if council members want to revisit his voting authority, they should also examine what he describes as the broader limitations of the mayor’s role.

“If you're going to change things, why don’t you let me be like the rest of the leaders in this county and let me set the agenda, which is what every other municipality in this county does,” Franks said.

Currently, the city manager is responsible for setting Gastonia’s agenda.

Barber says the proposal is not personal.

“He feels it’s personal toward him. It’s not personal toward him. This would be for any person. This is relevant to the seat of the mayor, not the person,” Barber said.

Mayor Franks says if the council votes to limit his voting authority, the change should not take effect until the next mayor takes office. He says the council would need to determine when any change would officially begin.

Trace Casanova has auditioned for American Idol four times. While his first three tries were in front of producers, his last audition was for the show's panel of judges, and he made it onto TV.

The Gastonia native's audition for American Idol will air on ABC Monday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. and on Hulu on Feb. 3.

"It felt very validating, just to be in the room, and to be there, and working with the people," Casanova said in an interview Feb. 2.

Trace Casanova is a stage name ― Casanova's true last name is Casanave, which he tweaked to perform.

Casanova, now 23, has been playing guitar since he was a student at Forestview High School, but he started singing in the seventh grade.

"I started taking it seriously in high school, doing the musicals," he said.

He said he was performing as Judd in "Oklahoma" his junior year of high school when he came to a turning point. The character was different than a more comedic character that he played in the musical "Footloose."

"It was showing a completely different side, and people loved it just as much," he said. "That's when I knew that this was what I was made to do."

Casanova, who grew up in Gastonia but now lives in Charlotte's NoDa community, works full-time as a musician. He said he's tried other jobs, but they didn't stick. He lasted one day working as a waiter before he was fired.

"I worked at The Golden Palace when it was still open. You couldn't read my handwriting, I was all over the place," he said. "I've had other jobs where like, it's always a different reaction. I had coworkers that didn't like when I was tap dancing at the Food Lion. I was practicing."

Casanova said he grew up with biker parents who listened to a lot of heavy metal. He rebelled by putting on jazz, and now, that's often what he often performs, playing at hotels, nursing homes, and other venues. He also hosts open mic night at downtown Gastonia's music venue, The Rooster.

"I'm very performative. I put on a suit and a nice microphone," he said. "It feels like me."

He said he enjoys doing the kind of covers that meld genres, like a jazz rendition of a Snoop Dogg song. He feels that kind of music brings people together.

"I think that's what America needs now more than ever," he said. "That's what we need: togetherness."