74-Year-Old Florida Lyft Driver Missing, Car Found in North Carolina

Police in North Carolina on Thursday arrested a man who led them on a cross-state chase driving a car belonging to a missing Florida Lyft driver.

Rutherford County Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg said Matthew Scott Flores was taken into custody after a crash in Ellenboro, according to WLOS. The station said that Flores has warrants out for his arrest all over the East Coast, including a murder charge in Florida.

WESH reported that the murder charge is in Hardee County and isn’t related to the disappearance of Lyft driver Gary Levin, 74.

Lindsay DiBetta, Levin’s daughter, said he left at about 1 p.m. on Monday to pick up riders. His phone went dark about an hour later. DiBetta said Lyft told her her father was active on their driver’s app at 1:22 p.m.

Police said highway scans spotted Levin’s red Kia in Miami, Okeechobee County, Sumter County, and Gainesville before North Carolina authorities spotted the car and gave chase.

“I can’t imagine him going and picking someone up in Miami and then going to Okeechobee? Like that would be, you know, he would let his girlfriend know. They had dinner plans on Monday night, and he never came home. He would let her know, ‘Hey, I’m driving from Palm Beach Gardens to Miami and then to Okeechobee,’” DiBetta said.

Levin is described as having gray hair and brown eyes, and is about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 170 pounds.

Anyone with information should contact the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department at 561-799-4445.

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[Featured image: Gary Levin/Facebook]

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