Teen traveled to the Middle East for love

GRAND BLANC (WJRT) (WJRT) -- (06/22/06)-- She has remained silent and in seclusion since secretly traveling two weeks ago to the Middle East to meet a man she met online.

We began with Katherine Lester's revelation that even today she still harbors strong feelings for Aabdullah Jimzawi.

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If there was any question about Lester's true feelings about Jimzawi, the man she traveled halfway around the world to meet, we were told -- in no uncertain terms -- Lester's true feelings.

It was a relationship Lester says began in cyberspace. Over the course of a month or two, she says it eventually blossomed into love.

This newfound love is what proved to be the catalyst for what her family was led to believe was a trip to Canada -- a trip that to her parents seemed innocent enough.

So as the family here in Michigan slowly began to learn of Lester's secret mission to be with her cyberspace lover, she was nearer to her destination and ultimate goal.

What few realized until now is how close she actually came to her ultimate goal. It's a dream she says she is still chasing today that still includes Jimzawi.

She has been in hiding since her June 9 arrival in Flint after flying halfway around the world to meet a man she met online.

Lester celebrated her 17th birthday on June 21. She is an articulate, intelligent young woman.

"I want to get my message out -- now that this is all over with -- that I wished I would have told my parents. Because now I know they would have understood what I was feeling," Lester said.

Instead, Lester told her parents she was going to Canada with friends when instead, she secretly made her way to New York for a flight to the Middle East to meet 20-year-old Jimzawi. It was a romance born in cyberspace on MySpace.com.

The family readily admits there were other factors that played in Lester's plans for a secret rendezvous. "The problem is not technology. It's not the telephone; it's not the computers. The problem is communication between parents and children," said Lester's father, Terry Lester.

A lot of people are pointing to MySpace.com as the culprit, the "bad guy." "I don't agree with that. I think that MySpace.com, when used for its intended purpose, for people to keep in touch with each other, I think it's a great tool," said Lester's stepmother, Krista Lester.

It's a tool that may have actually directly led to Lester's whereabouts. "Actually, MySpace is what led us to her. It was a great tool for us to find out what was going on with her. Kids don't talk to their parents about everything. They're putting it into their journals and MySpace and we were able to use MySpace to find her," explained Krista.

The experience has delivered some difficult lessons to Lester. "I've learned to tell them more now. They're still so understanding," she said. "And I knew that they were before, but now that this is over with, I know that I can go to them for anything."

"We want to warn other parents that if this can happen to our daughter, Katherine, it can happen to anyone," Terry said.

While Lester is back home, this story is far from over. She admits she still loves her Middle East cybermate. "Now that our relationship's out in the open, I can say I love him, and we do plan on continuing our relationship," she said.

As for the final chapter to this story, Terry has one hope. "Wow. (I hope) that we remain one happy family. As far as whether this boy is her life or not, that's going to be a decision she makes. In 365 days from now, she is going to be old enough to get on an airplane and leave here."

 

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