Counting 'em Down: For better or for worse, this is the Headline Surfer countdown of the 2021's Top 100 biggest news stories of Central Florida along the tourism-driven stretch of Interstate 4 (Orlando Attractions and east to I-95 & the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona). Each recap segment is posted with its own headline, culminating with the unveiling of No. 1 on New Year's Day or shortly thereafter. Then Headline Surfer will post a Top 10 forecast story of the good, the bad & the ugly on the horizon in "2022: The Year That Lies Ahead."
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A nearly year-long investigation by the Daytona Beach Police Department ended with the arrest of a 19-year-old college student on 20 felony counts of child pornography possession back in August.
Ethan Edlund – a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – surrendered to the Fugitive Apprehension Unit of the Chicago Police Department on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021). He remains in their custody pending an extradition hearing. It’s not clear at this time when he’ll be transported to the Volusia County Jail in Daytona Beach.
DBPD’s Advanced Technology & Cyber Crimes Unit began investigating Edlund in September 2020 after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that someone in the Daytona Beach area used a file-sharing cloud storage service to store child pornography.
Investigators linked the account – which held video of a child involved in a sex act – to Edlund. Various Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used to access that account were also traced to Edlund, including some assigned to ERAU and others which he used while staying with family in Chicago, according to Daytona Beach police.
In December 2020, an ATAC search warrant signed by a Volusia County judge allowed access to a Google email account linked to Edlund. That led to the discovery of over 1,200 pornographic videos, many of which showed children involved in a variety of sex acts.
Another search warrant signed by a Volusia County judge in March 2021 allowed ATAC access to Edlund’s dorm room at ERAU, where officers seized a laptop and smartphone belonging to him. Edlund spoke to officers briefly at that time but refused to talk any further once his Miranda rights were read.
A forensic analysis of the smartphone turned up more child pornography videos. Some of the videos found on the phone are the basis for the charges filed against Edlund by DBPD.
Investigators are still actively working on this case, so additional charges against Edlund may be added at any time.
Among the evidence amassed by Daytona Beach police:
Daytona Beach police were tipped to the cloud storage account by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in September 2020. Investigators found a video there showing a child performing a sex act. Investigators linked the account to Edlund and later linked Edlund to several IP addresses used to access the account. Some of those addresses were linked to the university and others were used by Edlund while he was visiting family in Chicago.
In December 2020, police gained access to a Google account that had more than 1,200 pornographic videos. And in March 2021, during a search of Edlund’s dorm room, they seized his laptop and smartphone, where they found more child pornography.
The storage account had a video of a child performing a sex act. Officers later linked the account to Ethan Edlund, 19, a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Police say Edlund was linked to several IP addresses that were used to access the account, some assigned to ERAU and others Edlund used while with his family in Chicago.
The ATAC would later find more videos of child pornography linked to Edlund after getting access to a Google account in December 2020. Daytona police said there were over 1,200 pornographic videos on the account, with many of them involving children.
Officers would later search Edlund’s dorm room in March 2021, seizing his laptop and smartphone under a warrant. A forensic search found more child pornography, some of which were the basis of Edlund’s criminal charges.
Edlund eventually turned himself into the Chicago Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit in early August. He faces 20 charges of child pornography possession, with other charges pending.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.