Mich. girl goes to Jordan to meet someone from MySpace

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Michigan girl flew to Jordan to meet MySpace friend:

I’m sure you’ve all read this one by now…

SAGINAW, Mich. The grumblings about MySpace predators are bound to grow louder after this.
A 16-year-old girl traveled to the Middle East to see a West Bank man she met on MySpace.com. Katherine Lester was detained by Jordanian officials when she arrived in Amman this week.

Her mother, Shawn Lester, said Katherine had persuaded her in April to help her get a passport so she could go on a two-week vacation to Canada with a friend’s family. That turned out to be a cover-up for her trans-Atlantic plans.

When Katherine disappeared Monday, the Tuscola County sheriff’s department contacted the FBI, who traced the teen to a flight from New York to Amman.

FBI spokesman Brian Endrizal declined to provide any details and would not comment on the man’s identity or background.

All righty then.

See what happens when you don’t monitor your kid’s MySpace. They go to the Middle East.

I can honestly say that this is the weirdest story I’ve talked about on this site.

H/T to LiLO and Tina.

Comments

14 responses to “Mich. girl goes to Jordan to meet someone from MySpace”

June 10, 2006

Rose DesRochers

Since when do US citizens need a passport to travel to Canada?

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June 10, 2006

BelchSpeak

US Citizens only need a drivers license to travel in North America. The parents were stupid. they should have realized that their perfect daughter was lying to them and of course, should have been monitoring the computer use of their perfect daughter.

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June 10, 2006

Anonymous

they did not say that she was perfect ,and when does any parent have time to be with thier child every minute of the day .If you do you dont have a life,

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June 10, 2006

Trench Reynolds

It’s common knowledge that you don’t need a passport to visit Canada from the U.S. THat should have been there first clue.

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June 10, 2006

Anonymous

Well most times you need a passport to get into another country!!! maybe they never have went to canada!!!! and for the first she said she was traveling to canada, Canada is not in the united states!!!

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June 10, 2006

Trench Reynolds

Michigan borders Canada. If anybody knows about rules of crossing the border it should be the citizens of Michigan. Did the parents even bother to check with the friend’s family to see if the trip was true?

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June 10, 2006

Responsible

Parents just need to be responsible for their kids, don’t matter about a life. Once you chose to have sex that produces a child your life is not responsible to bring them up until they are an adult. I did and I did mostly as a single parent, and I have a great kid who is on myspace and I have always seen everything she has done on the computer. At 5yrs old I told her I’m mom and I rule, that’s that! She never once got into trouble in or out of school, never ran away, never smoked, drank or had sex! Why cause I made sure I knew everything!! It is possible. Parents need to stop making excuses!!

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June 10, 2006

Responsible

opps sorry for my typo, the comment should have read, “your life is responsible to bring them up”. thank you

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June 11, 2006

nobody

I live in mid-michigan. You need a driver’s license to get into Canada. But at least a birth certifiacate to get back into Michigan. They are trying to make it harder to get to the States Post 9-11. And are thinking about passing a law that you need a Passport to get to and from Canada. 😐

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June 12, 2006

from af

I know Katherine and she is far from perfect.

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June 26, 2006

Mary Brown

If you know Katherine, please give her this message: I have a god-daughter who began dating a guy who was just like Katherine’s “soul-mate.” He’s handsome, a sweet-talker, said all of the right things, treated her great and said he could not imagine life without her. She kept their relationship a secret from me and married him behind my back, then wrote me a letter &amp brought it to me, telling me about their marriage. What a betrayal….what a hurt! Though she is not my birth daughter, I love her as if she were and pray for her, always. Several weeks later, the mask came off: He was not Italian (as he had been telling her) he was a Muslim and demanded that she convert, or else. She refused. All Hell broke loose, including physical fights, destruction of her property (her car, clothes and condo) and fianally, threats of death. After many bizarre and scarey months, she was able to get the marriage annuled. (He refused to have sex with her unless she converted). The threats continued, however, for a year or so after the annulment. Katherine and her parents need to understand Islamic customs and practices. Once she marries this guy, she will no longer have a voice of her own – Islamic women are seen &amp not heard, and speak only when spoken to. Going from a woman young woman accustomed to personal freedoms to a nameless non-entity will no doubt be Katherine’s undoing, unless she is prepared for that type of sacrifice. She has entered very dangerous waters that may appear placid on the surface, but underneath lurks a turbulence that will have very harmful effects on both her and her family. (I know – I’ve been there with my beautiful god-daughter) and would not wish this experience on ANYONE. The fact that he asked her or allowed her to violate her parents trust, speaks volumes about him. Tell Katherine that true love would never ask nor allow her, to violate the love of her parents. I’m praying for Katherine and her family.

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June 28, 2006

someone who remember

It’s easy for you all to criticize the parents, huh? One mistake a kid makes and it’s all the parents’ fault? Those of you bragging about how well you keep tabs on your kids, how you know everything they do, well you’re in for some nasty surprises. Kids are soooo much sneakier than you think…. besides, let them make their own mistakes. If you stop them, they will resent you forever. If they make their mistakes, this is how they will learn and grow. Accept that.

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August 11, 2006

lis

Hi Katherine
Do you still want to go to the Middle East right now? There is lots to do, you would not be bored at all. Oh, ain’t love wonderful

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September 3, 2006

Lindsey

Katherine,i just like to say that i support u in this. if your in love,then reach to the top. it seems to me that u and Abdullah are meant for eachother. I wish the best of luck to you and him.. i tried to add u to myspace but it wont let me… but,i support u Katherine. Good Luck with Abdullah in the future!!! 🙂

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