Six men and one woman were arrested and accused of human trafficking after an eight-month investigation by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Lee County Sheriff's Office, and the St. Petersburg Police Department.
The investigation started back in May of 2018 when a Louisiana law enforcement agency contacted St. Pete Police Department with information that a missing 17-year-old boy from Louisiana was at a mobile home at 4000 24th St. North, Lot 12, Silver Lake Mobile Home Park in St. Petersburg.
Police said one of the defendants contacted the 17-year-old using the online gaming app Discord and promised him a better life.
When the 17-year-old boy arrived at the mobile home, police said four of the suspects were already living with and holding captive a 16-year-old boy for nearly a year. Investigators said the suspects had introduced him to sadomasochism and used him as a sex slave.
The 16-year-old had been lured from his Marion County home by an acquaintance of his family, McGlamory, who promised him a better life, police said. In May 2017, when he was 15 years old and went missing, the boy’s mother found a note from her son saying not to look for him, investigators said.
When St. Petersburg police arrived at the home on May 9, they found the 17-year-old and a 16-year-old, who Mark Dennis claimed was his biological son. police later found out he was not the father and that the 16-year-old was reported missing from Marion County nearly a year ago.
The 17-year-old boy was sent back home while the 16-year-old boy is getting receive medical and psychological care.
the gang of predators was identified as were identified as Mark Earl Dennis, 52 and Andrew Barry Dennis, 45, a married couple arrested in Pinellas County; Michael Ray Blasdel, 36, and J.R. Gauthier, 29, who were also arrested in Pinellas; Eleanor Faye McGlamory, 56, arrested in Marion County; and Michael Wayne Schwartz, 51, arrested in Lee County.
All six defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and interference with custody.
