ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A Hazelwood man has been charged with kidnapping, accused of pretending to be a relative of a 13-year-old Ferguson-Florissant School District student and checking her out of school earlier this week, Florissant Police said Wednesday.

James Earl Paulette, 43, who investigators said was not known by the girl's family, told staff at Cross Keys Middle School on Tuesday that he was related to the student and there had been a death in her family, police wrote in court documents.

Police located the girl at Paulette's home in Jennings that afternoon — about six hours later — where Paulette told police they had played video games, according to court documents.

A school counselor had contacted the girl's mother after seeing she was checked out of school shortly after arriving t

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