Thomas Medlin, a 15-year-old, has been missing since January 9, 2026, and his friend tipped his parents off to check his Roblox account.
The Suffolk County Police Department doesn’t believe his disappearance is linked to social media or online gaming.
Since its launch in 2006, Roblox has become a massive online universe. It’s not just one game, but a platform hosting over 40 million different games, which the company calls “experiences.”
Millions of From the popular Dress to Impress to Grow a Garden, millions of players, mostly kids and teens, log in daily to play and socialize. The game has its own currency, called Robux, which players use to buy new outfits, accessories, and special in-game perks.
However, behind the colorful fun, Roblox is facing serious legal trouble.
Currently, attorneys general in several states, including Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas, are investigating the company. On top of that, there are nearly 80 active lawsuits against Roblox, many of which involve serious claims related to child safety and sexual predation.
A major concern is that Roblox allows children and adults to interact within the same space.
Roblox relied on users to honestly report their age when signing up for a long time, but starting January 7, it introduced a new AI-powered age estimation tool for anyone who wants to use the chat function.
Roblox is built with safety at its core, including robust policies to help protect users that go beyond many other platforms. We have filters designed to block the sharing of personal information and don’t allow user-to-user image or video sharing. While no system is perfect, our commitment to safety never ends, and we continue to evolve and strengthen our protections every day.
Roblox
Search Continues for Long Island Teen Missing After Trip to Meet Online Gamer
The search is continuing for a 15-year-old Long Island boy who vanished after traveling into Manhattan, reportedly to meet someone he connected with on the popular gaming platform Roblox.
Thomas Medlin was from St. James, a hamlet in Suffolk County, and went missing on Friday, January 9, 2026.
According to Suffolk County Police, Thomas left Stony Brook School around 3:30 p.m. and hurried to the Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station.
Surveillance shows he caught a train into the city, arriving at Grand Central Terminal about two hours later at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Police have since traced him in Lower Manhattan near Cherry and Rutgers Streets, and later to the intersection of Sands and Jay Street in Brooklyn.
His mother, Eva Yan, told reporters that Thomas was a well-behaved teen who had never done anything so drastic without permission. She believes the trip was planned to meet someone he met on Roblox.
Yan had set up a Roblox account for her son, linked to her email to monitor his activity. However, she discovered that Thomas had secretly created a secondary email address to set up a private account, bypassing the safety features she had in place.
A tip from one of Thomas’s friends led the family to check his online activity.
Please help me pray for the Medlin / Yan Family and please pray that Thomas is found. It feels like just yesterday we spent New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year with you we laughed so much and had an amazing time. Seeing you on the news, mourning and crying over Thomas, breaks my heart. I can’t help but feel so sad and helpless. I’m praying Thomas is found and that peace is restored to your family.
Alysia Beth Stern
The family has organized daily search parties in both Long Island and Manhattan, checking homeless shelters and distributing flyers.
Thomas was last seen wearing a backpack and carrying a large object while walking on a subway platform. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Suffolk County Police Department.
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