Missing Massachusetts Teen Located Following Partner’s Arrest for Stabbing

Nick Pollinger went to wake up his daughter, Aubrey, for school in Northbridge, Massachusetts around 6:30 a.m. on February 7. However, he found her room empty. His teenage daughter had vanished, leaving behind her beloved items such as her sneaker collection and cell phone. They suspected she was with a 23-year-old man named Patricio Bautista Matus who she befriended while working at Goodstuff Smokehouse. A restraining order had been placed against this man by Aubrey’s mom, Becky Pollinger, five days before Aubrey went missing. The court had commanded him to refrain from contacting Aubrey, keeping him away from her school and home. Bautista Matus had been residing in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and was employed as a cook in the same restaurant.

Posters detailing the missing teen were distributed across the area. The public were implored via news bulletins to be watchful and contact the local authorities if they knew anything about her location. Becky was eager to find her youngest child who she described as a jovial girl with a big heart and a sense of humor marked by sarcasm.

With each passing day, they discovered that Bautista Matus was likely heading to the Miami region – his previous residence – with Aubrey. “When Aubrey went missing, we phoned him and told him to bring her back, but he refused,” Becky recollected.

Due to a violent event in a public rail station in Atlanta, Bautista Matus couldn’t evade the police any longer. News Times revealed that he had allegedly assaulted a man at the MARTA Peachtree Center Station on February 24. According to the arrest report, he had slashed the victim’s face with a blade and stabbed his leg. The man informed the police that Bautista Matus had tracked him from Lindbergh Center Station, continuously calling him a thief. A conflict ensued, with Bautista Matus allegedly using a blade. The man sustained injuries to his thigh and eye. A Hampton Beach pocket knife was found on the crime scene. Bautista Matus was apprehended, taken to Fulton County jail, and charged with aggravated assault and felony possession of a knife as reported in the booking record.

Following this event, after weeks of concerned search efforts, the Pollingers learned that Aubrey was in Georgia. Becky instantly headed towards Atlanta to retrieve her daughter from a local children’s hospital. “We won’t consider her ‘found’ until she is safely at home,” she confirmed.

The Pollinger family had discouraged Bautista Matus from associating with a teenager repeatedly before Aubrey vanished, according to Becky. “Once we discovered his secret meetings with her, that’s when I sought a restraining order,” she added.

The order, active since February 2, will last until January 3, 2025. Becky mentioned that she hadn’t informed Aubrey about the restraining order until it was granted as her child was unresponsive to difficult situations.

A native of Chile, Bautista Matus had lived in Miami with connections to the local community. In Miami Beach, May 2022, Matus was arrested on felony burglary and resistance to an officer without violence charges. However, no actions were taken on the felony charge, and the rest, including an assault case, were not pursued by the prosecution.

Becky believed her daughter’s emotional state was in turmoil. “I believe my daughter is torn between the threat of never seeing him again and coming home,” she expressed. Becky had been communicating with the FBI, media, and local law enforcement about the ongoing search. “No matter the time, I will come and rescue you,” Becky ensured her daughter.