A 15-year-old Windham girl is back home with her parents and the Florida man she ran away from home to meet – a suspected online predator – is in jail.

“It’s an ongoing investigation,” said Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis. “We’re being very deliberate and cautious in how we’re proceeding.”

Lewis’ department was notified the girl had fled from her home on Monday, March 26, after the girl’s mother came home to discover a note left by her daughter.

The girl informed her parents that she was moving to the Boston area and would be in touch. She had taken her pets, a suitcase of clothes and her computer, and left behind her cell phone.

Police learned the girl was being homeschooled and had cut off interaction with local friends. Her only communication outside of her home was with an online group who regularly played the game “World of Warcraft,” in which she is a guild member.

Authorities learned from the mother that the girl had had met a 26-year-old Florida man, “Daniel,” online.

Police worked with other law enforcement agencies, online service providers, telephone vendors and the girl’s family, to find the girl and identify the man.

Authorities eventually identified the man as Daniel Lenz, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla. According to police, he is a convicted felon with an extensive criminal record in Florida.

Windham authorities continued their work, teaming up with the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and various law enforcement agencies.

Lenz was found at his home by Jacksonville police and was taken into custody on an unrelated charge. Lewis said he believes Lenz was a charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police learned that the girl was being driven to Florida by another Florida man, Jason Dowling, 23, at Lenz’s request.

Around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, authorities tracked down Dowling and the girl in Manning, S. C., where the local sheriff’s office took her into protective custody.

Police believe Lenz is an online predator who befriended the girl and convinced her to come to Florida to be with him.

They believe Lenz told Dowling to leave behind the girl’s cell phone and seize her computer to prevent authorities from linking her disappearance with him and to prevent her from being found through cell-phone activity.

Lenz has not yet been charged in connection with the Windham case. Lewis said his department is working with the FBI and other agencies.

“With her being safe now, and he’s in jail, time is on our side,” Lewis said.

The case, he said, should remind parents about the importance of monitoring their children’s computer activity and the potential dangers facing kids online.

“We hear about this happening across the country,” Lewis said. “Unfortunately it’s far too common. It’s the society we live in today.”

“Here, we have an incident where it happened to us,” he added. “It happened in our backyard.”