‘You Were My Hero’: Teen Who Fled an Abusive Father Reunites With the Officer Who Searched for Her — and Marries Him 15 Years Later

When 13-year-old Roshin Ali ran away from home one summer night in Tennessee, a young police officer was among those searching for her. Nothing came of that fleeting intersection of their lives — just a name on a report, a call over the radio, a face on a file.

Fifteen years later, their paths finally crossed — not through a missing-person call, but through two adults working side by side in law enforcement.

Tyler Schrupp, now 38, first noticed Ali in 2022 while she was working at the sheriff’s department; in 2023, she began working at the Jackson Police Department — the same department where he served. Long before he knew anything about her past, their paths overlapped as colleagues. As their conversations deepened over time, Ali told him about the night she fled her abusive home — and that was the moment he realized he had unknowingly been part of her story years earlier.

“He searched for me then,” Ali told PEOPLE. “Now we’ve built this beautiful connection.”

Today, at 28, Ali is a patrol officer, a mother of three, and engaged to the man who had been among the officers assigned to the search years earlier. Their story — one of trauma transformed into strength, and of love found where pain once lived — is proof that even the darkest beginnings can lead to light.

Escaping an Abusive Home

Ali has no fond memories of her childhood. She told PEOPLE she and her brother ran away from their father after years of abuse.

That summer day — July 27, 2010 — began like any other until her father came home angry after losing “all of his money” gambling. He discovered his children playing outside, something Ali said was forbidden.

“When he came home,” she recalled, “we ran to the room because we already knew he was angry.”

Her sister tried to hold the door shut while Ali and her brother hid under a blanket. Violence erupted.

Ali remembered her father demanding a knife and said she saw him “literally trying to stab [my sister] through the door to try to get her out the way.”

When he forced his way in, he dragged her sister by the hair and beat her. Their mother’s warning — “Y’all are going to be next” — sent Ali and her brother climbing out the window.

That night they slept in a park. The next morning, they went with a friend’s mother to church, where police found them.

“All I knew about it was we had two runaways in the area we needed to locate,” Schrupp recalled to PEOPLE.

According to court documents reviewed by the magazine, Ali’s father later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Growing Up in Foster Care

After their escape, Ali and her siblings were placed in foster care. She told PEOPLE that when she reported being sexually assaulted in one of the homes, nothing happened.

“I guess they didn’t take me seriously whenever I was telling them the information,” she said.

Despite everything, Ali endured. She stayed in the system until she turned eighteen and eventually built a life on her own. She later became a correctional officer in Jackson before transferring to the police department where Schrupp worked.

A Connection Rediscovered

Although Schrupp first saw Ali in 2022 at the Jackson Police Department, he didn’t approach her immediately — he “stared at [her] but seemed afraid to say anything,” Ali shared.

Months later, he finally walked up to her and introduced himself. That first conversation quickly turned into an easy rapport.

“You were nervous, but you were staring at me pretty hard,” Ali told him in their PEOPLE interview.

They began talking every day. “We hit it off and just could talk about any and everything,” Schrupp said.

Their connection grew naturally and steadily, and they officially began dating on October 12, 2023.

As they grew closer, Ali shared the story of running away at 13. That was when Schrupp realized he had been among the officers assigned to search for her.

“That’s when it clicked,” he recalled. “I was on that search.”

Ali was touched.

“It was surprising, but I thought it was so cute,” she said.

Building a New Life

By the time their relationship began, Ali was raising her two sons — Dawson, 8, and Brantley, 7 — from a previous relationship.

She and Schrupp later welcomed their baby boy, Stetson, now five months old.

Their shared understanding of hardship and healing laid the foundation for their love.

They got engaged on August 22, 2024, during a family vacation.

Ali believed they were posing for a group photo when her sons found a shell containing a fake ring. Then she turned to see Schrupp kneeling with the real one.

“I cried. I lost it,” she told PEOPLE. “I was so happy because I’m like, ‘I finally get to marry the man of my dreams.’”

They plan a destination wedding in October 2026.

Full Circle

Ali’s journey — from a terrified runaway to a police officer, mother, and fiancée — is a testament to resilience.

She and Schrupp now build their life together in the department where they met, raising their children and creating a future shaped by strength, healing, and love.

Looking back on the night in July 2010 when she escaped violence, Ali reflects with gratitude for how far she’s come — and for the man whose path intersected with hers long before she ever knew it.

“You were my hero,” she tells her fiancé.

“We’ve built this beautiful connection,” she added. “He searched for me then. And now, he’s the one I get to spend the rest of my life with.”

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