Post date: Jan 07, 2012 2:46:12 PM
Runaway U.S. girl returns home to Dallas as mystery surrounds her accidental deportation to Colombia.
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (JANUARY 06, 2012) (REUTERS) - Colombia said on Friday (January 06) that a 15-year-old Texan runaway had returned to the U.S. after she had been mistakenly deported to the Colombia.
Reports say Jakadrien Turner gave a false name when she was arrested by police for stealing in 2010. The name apparently matched that of a 21-year-old Colombian woman and, despite speaking no Spanish and carrying no Colombian papers, they deported her to Bogota.
Colombia's Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said they were opening up an investigation.
"The girl has been completely identified and she left the country this morning. She should be arriving today to her country of origin. What we have done is to start an interim investigation in the ministry to clarify some facts," she said.
Turner, who ran away from home in 2010, told police her name was Tika Lanay Cortez. Just 14 when she was sent to Colombia, she apparently worked in the Bogota area.
"I believe that the important thing for the Colombian government is to know that the girl is where she should be, that she has been identified and that she will be with her family," Holguin added.
Apparently Turner's grandmother, Lorene Turner, finally located her by following postings on her Facebook page.
Her family is demanding to know how immigration officials mistook her identity.