17 yr. old girl lost in Egypt - nobody cares

[TorchTheWitch]

I saw this story on ABC's late night news in Philly... the link is the update to the story and this REALLY pisses me off.

But first, some background from last night's tv story... A 17 year old girl from Philly met a 30-something year old man and a month later left with him and her one year old child to Egypt. Her guardians (aunt and uncle) are concerned because soon after getting to Egypt she called repeatedly saying she was scared, wanted to come home and didn't know how. She didn't know where she was in Egypt.

Her guardians called local police, local FBI, Homeland Security, everyone they could think of and nobody gave a crap. While the reporter was talking to the guardians, the girl called, and they filmed the phone call. She was whispering on the phone, again said she was scared and wanted to come home... doesn't even know where in Egypt she is. ABC traced the call and found what town she was in, which is outside of Cairo. The whole thing got turned over the the FBI, and here's the update...


http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=local&id=4014815
<snip>
Porseha says she has heard from Philadelphia police and the F.B.I. and has assured them she and her one-year-old baby are fine. They are living in Cairo.

However, her aunt is still worried.

Lakeisha Rogers/aunt: "She's really scared, she's whispering on the phone... a lot of things are going on over there... I want her home, I miss her."

Lakeisha Rogers says Philadelphia police have told her that since Porseha is of age, and assures them that she's OK, there's nothing more they can do.
<end snip>

Since when is a SEVENTEEN year old "of age"???? She is a MINOR, hence why she has guardians. What the hell is going on here? She keeps calling her guardians WHISPERING on the phone saying she wants to come home, she's scared, and she doesn't know where she is. And just because she tells the FBI she's ok, they just leave it at that??? Nobody finds this the least bit suspicious??? Nobody cares that she is UNDER-aged??? This is disgusting.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Is she still underage? That's a little unclear...

it looks like she was underage when she met the guy, but may not be anymore.

[Obamarama]

2. Of course if she was white, blonde and pretty, Rita & Nancy would be on it

Black girl (I'm assuming from the name) with child? NADA.

[xultar]

3. Well, let me guess before I click the link. The girl is black...

If that doesn't prove missing white woman syndrome I don't know what will.

[Ian David]

7. She looks like Tooty from Facts of Life

You're right.

If she were a white girl, it would be the top story on the news.

Maybe if the girl had inside information about JonBenet Ramsey, it would make headlines.

[cantstandbush]

26. But did she leave the country under duress or on her own?

Don't flame me, but this is different from being kidnapped, isn't it?

[valerief]

4. Good lord. How can you even think about her when Natalee is still missing?

[Ian David]

8. Not to mention we have that hot female teacher who had sex with the boy

It's amazing that we ever get time to have serious coverage of the genocide in Darfur, what with all those pretty white women we have to talk about.

[valerief]

23. And disappearing grooms on honeymoon cruises

White grooms with pretty wives/widows, that is, but that goes without saying.

[atreides1]

5. Well According to PA Law

16 is the age of consent, so the police are following the law. As long as they are not married, the man has committed no crime. In PA anyone under the age of 18 can only get married with the permission of parents or guardians, since it seems that she willingly went to Egypt with this man, then there was no kidnapping either.

I know, it sucks, but by the letter of the law no crime has been committed.

[On the Road]

6. Yes, But I Think the Issue is Larger than How a Crime is Defined

The American government often takes great pains to assist Americans in foreign countries. The US embassy is one of the first places you go if you're in trouble.

This girl was obviously afraid for her life and was unable to move freely. All that was required was help in locating her and escorting her away from her husband if she wanted to leave.

It's a little appalling that the US government would throw up their hands and claim they couldn't do anything. Particularly THIS adminstration, which seems to have no regard for legal obstacles like this.

[Ian David]

9. They're occupied with the guy in Afghanastan sentenced to death

for converting to Christianity.

They're not at all concerned with all the guys who are being killed every day in Afghanastan and Iraq for being gay.

But boy, that Christian guy makes headlines!

[TorchTheWitch]

13. The man isn't her husband

He's just some 30-something guy she met about a month before she left for Egypt. Her guardians have no idea who he is.

And if she can't get to the embassy herself, embassies are VERY good at trying to get to you. But I'm willing to bet that nobody told her about the embassy, nobody told the embassy, and nobody is doing a fucking thing. It's obvious this girl is under duress and needs help... but she's not a rich white girl. :mad: And to top it off, it was news people that traced her phone call, not the police or FBI or anyone else... and that was BEFORE they spoke to her and she apparently told them she was ok.

[On the Road]

25. Just a Thought, But..

would it be possible to call the US Embassy in Cairo directly? They might be more attuned to helping expatriates than US agencies. The indifference so far is really appalling.

http://cairo.usembassy.gov/

[Nikki Stone 1]

10. It sounds like the 30-something man is abusing the crap out of her

And is forcing her to say everything is ok when the Feds come around.

No proof, I know, but even the local police would check a little more heavily into this if it were on home turf. It just seems to follow that pattern.

[LiberalinNC]

11. Both her and her young child are both underage!!! They need to

be brought home. The news can talk for months about the girl missing in the Bahamas, but where's the coverage on these two???

[mcscajun]

12. "Presently, detectives from the northwest division....

...are looking into the case."

So, somebody cares. Still, it's rough sledding when no crime has been committed here, and the person is in foreign jurisdiction. You can bet that the 30-year old man responsible for this mess knew every loophole in the law before he took off with young Porseha. While not mentioned in the article, I was surprised to learn that minors from 14 to 17 can apply for passports on their own, and as long as they have all the proper identification to apply, they may be able to get one without a parent present or approving. "For security reasons, parental consent may be requested."

May be. Ugh. Whose Bright Idea was that? First we had that kid who wanted to experience Iraq taking off by himself, now this poor child.

I hope for a happy outcome, but I'm not optimistic.

[TorchTheWitch]

15. It's the locals who are interested

"detectives from the northwest division"... those are local Philly cops, but this is an international case, so the FBI should be dealing with this. It's not clear from the article, but the tv show clarified it was local Philly police. What the hell do Philly cops know about dealing with an international case like this? That's why they gave it to the FBI, but apparently, the FBI doesn't give a rat's ass. Bless them for trying to do SOMETHING, but this is out of their realm.

I'm aghast at that law that says that a minor as young as 14 can get a passport without their parents' consent... what the hell were they thinking with THAT?

I don't see a happy outcome from this either... and I bet if it's found out that she was murdered or something, nobody that could have done something will give a crap then either.

[mcscajun]

17. The Philadelphia police are probably already working with Interpol

who can do more abroad than the FBI.

[walldude]

14. Something is being left out of this story

Why did she leave? She left without knowing where she was going? Why if she is so desperate to get out did she tell the feds she was OK? She apparently managed to tell her Aunt that she wanted to come home. Something doesn't ring true about all this...

[TorchTheWitch]

16. She's under duress

That seems obvious to me, at least. She WHISPERS when she calls her guardians... that should be a huge clue. Most likely she was only able to call them and ask for help at times when she was reasonable sure that it was ok to do so. It is also most likely that when the Feds called HER, she WASN'T in a position to speak freely. There is only one reason for her to be WHISPERING on the phone when she calls for help and that is because someone is nearby that doesn't want her GETTING any help.

[Brothaman2k]

18. How hard is it

To alert the American embassy that they have a US citizen in distress? I mean if they can trace the call surely they came up with an address. American agents from the embassy could very easily get to her. I mean, am I missing something here? Age of consent or not the point is she may have consented then, but it's obvious she doesn't consent now.

[Vetinarii]

20. Imagine this story:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Philly police are "incandescent" over a "rescue mission" reportedly sponsored by the Egyptian embassy in Washington to retrieve an Egyptian national who was allegedly being held in the US illegally. Two people were slightly injured during the operation.

"It was dangerous, it was stupid, it was unnecessary," police spokesperson Hugh Jass told reporters.

The Egyptian, who has not been named, was apparently a 17 year old boy who had entered the US illegally and was being forced to work in dangerous and degrading conditions for slave wages. At some point he had managed to phone relatives at home and let them know that he was in distress; his location was pinpointed by tracing the call.

A spokesman for the Egyptian embassy said: "This boy did not dare go to local police, for fear of being imprisoned and tortured as an illegal Arab alien. If local authorities won't treat our people decently, we will have to do it ourselves."

Capt Jass retorts: "Of course the police would treat the kid decently if we'd known about him. Since when is America a country that mistreats foreigners?"

"I don't think I'm giving away any secrets when I say that Homeland Security is absolutely ballistic over this. There's talk of kicking the Egyptian embassy out altogether, and I don't think that would be an overreaction."

[helderheid]

19. this sounds horrible. I hope ABC doesn't drop this story

[Nikki Stone 1]

21. Me too

:kick:

[helderheid]

24. was this just a local story?

[Halliburton]

22. where the hell is rita cosby or greta

[BlooInBloo]

27. Why are you even bothering with this?

Every reasonable person knows damn well that America doesn't care about brown people.