Man arrested after stealing bear with child’s ashes, stalking Florida woman, deputies say

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. - What began as a casual connection on a dating app quickly turned into a terrifying ordeal for a Flagler County woman.

According to arrest affidavits from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Flagler Beach Police Department, 31-year-old Justin Andrew Fountain began aggressively stalking the victim after she ended their brief dating relationship and asked him to leave her alone.

The backstory:

Deputies say Fountain tracked the victim across the county, showing up unannounced at her workplace in Palm Coast and later confronting her at a local restaurant. Investigators revealed Fountain gained unauthorized access to the victim’s phone and social media accounts, using Apple’s "Find My" feature to track her real-time location without her permission.

When the victim went to Flagler Beach to escape, authorities say Fountain broke into her room at the Red Roof Plus in Palm Coast. While inside, he stole a plush memorial teddy bear containing an urn with her deceased young son's ashes.

Fountain then sent a barrage of threatening text messages, warning that he would set the teddy bear on fire and throw it out his car window on the highway if she did not submit to his demands.

Terrified, the victim sought refuge at the Flagler Beach Police Department. Even inside the police station, investigators noted her phone pinged nonstop with over 60 missed calls, dozens of death threats, and remote location tracking alerts.

Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies located Fountain in a car traveling northbound on Interstate 95. Deputies conducted a traffic stop near mile marker 294, taking Fountain into custody without incident as he claimed he was driving back to Georgia.

Inside his rental car, deputies located the stolen memorial bear intact and safely returned it to the mother.

What they're saying:

"What a despicable person. This is to steal, from a young mother, the ashes of their young child, who had died and then threatened to not return them and burn them," said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. "Once you start seeing those kind of behaviors, you need to end it and run from that individual."

What's next:

Justin Fountain was transported to the Flagler County Inmate Facility. He faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated stalking, extortion, grand theft, tampering with a victim, unauthorized installation/use of a tracking device, and unauthorized access to an electronic device. He remains held at the Flagler County Jail.