Missing CT Teen Visiting Internet Boyfriend Found in Morocco, Brought Home Safely

Rebecca Arthur, a missing teen from Clinton, who spurred an international search after she flew to Morocco to visit her boyfriend she met online has been found and brought home safely.

According to NBC Connecticut, the 17-year-old was reported missing by her mother who didn’t hear from her daughter, a few days after dropping her off at Delta Airlines terminal in JFK international airport on Monday, July 6.

Her mother claimed she was under the impression that Arthur was going to fly to a California to visit a friend. Instead, Rebecca boarded another plane, taking her to Casablanca, Morocco to visit her Facebook boyfriend, Sima El Adal, of six months, arriving Tuesday, July 7.

After being reported as a missing’s person, Arthur released a video stating that “She was safe and okay with her boyfriend Sima and his family, and that she had her parents’ permission to go and visit and spend time with them.”

Then the camera pans to Sima, and he begins to explain in Arabic that he had spoken to Arthur’s mother over Skype and informed them of the teens’ plans, then shows the camera the note that the teens claim was written by Arthur’s mother.

He also says that he believed one of Arthur’s friends could have been jealous of the relationship between the two, and told Rebecca’s mother that he was going to kidnap her and recruit her to ISIS, Reports NBC Connecticut.

The Clinton Police, FBI, Homeland Security, and the American consulate in Morocco were all involved in the case, and began investigating the report. They found that her parents were unaware of her actual plans or the Facebook relationship that had supposedly been going on since February, FOXCT reports.

On WFSB Eyewitness news, Sgt, Jeremiah Dunn of the Clinton Police Department states that it appeared that Sima Adal also misled his parents as well.

Authorities say the two youth perpetrated the event without their parents’ consent. Not only did Arthur forge the note allowing her to get on the flight to Morocco, but she also had a passport. It was also assumed that Sima paid the $1,200 flight to Morocco.

Arthur was located on Friday, July 10 around 3AM, 9PM eastern time, about 220 miles southwest of Casablanca, and turned over to the U.S. consulate in Morocco, Saturday, July 11. The staff then dropped her off at the airport making her board on Royal Air Maroc, which later landed at JFK International Airport at 5:24PM.

After making it through the airport, and getting through customs, she was escorted by the Port Authority police officers and Clinton police back to Clinton, Connecticut safely.

Police on NBC Connecticut said that her mother did sign the permission slip to travel, but that Arthur had changed it. Arthur later confirmed to investigators that she did indeed alter the document