JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – According to police, a woman who was stabbed to death at a Baymeadows hotel over the weekend met her killer online.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Jenna Miles and another woman first connected with 30-year-old Chad Hurst on BackPage.com. When the three met in person, Hurst stabbed Miles less than five times, killing her, and also stabbed the other woman, who was not identified, 20 times. The second victim survived, police said.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the women might have thought they were safe because they were there together, but there's more to safety than numbers.
"They met him at their residence at the hotel that they were staying in. Even though they were together, they thought they were safe because it was more than one. But you always want to meet in a public place where people are around," Smith said. "That way if you need help, you need to get out of a situation, there are people there who can help you."
Smith said BackPage.com advertises several things besides dating.
"Buy and sell real estate, and so many other things that are going on -- current events, community activities," Smith said. "If you're dating online, you should use a credible dating-only website."
Smith said a number of credible dating sites require personal information from their members, which creates a lower risk of danger for users. But using sites like Backpage.com and Craigslist, where users can literally buy, sell and advertise anything, creates an even greater risk of danger.
But Smith said there are ways to protect yourself, if you do want to date online.
He said to always create separate email addresses for the dating site. If a physical address is required, he said to sign up with a P.O. Box and never give more than a first name until the first in-person date.
When you meet in person for the first time, Smith said it's important to make sure someone who's not there knows who you're with.
"Once you meet the person, you should ask them for a photo ID. Don't let them know that you're going to ask for that prior to the date -- wait until you get there. That way they won't come up with some type of fake ID possibly," Smith said. "Then once you get that ID, in front of that person, call a friend on your cellphone and give them that information on the phone. Tell them, 'I am here with' -- give the person's name, his driver's license number, date of birth, all of that. That way the person that you're with knows that other people have his information, in case he tries to do something he shouldn't do."
Smith said if you use websites to buy or sell anything, like furniture, or even to look for an apartment, you still need to be careful.
"A lot of us are using these sites to buy and sell, and we think we won't be victims," he said. "You want to take the same precautions on buy-and-sell sites as you do on dating websites. You need to take the same precautions as you would on a dating site. Because it's not a date, but still the person could be dangerous."