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Police Doubt Missing British Girl may Have Returned to England
Aired July 15, 2003 - 13:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well tracing the steps a British girl believed to have run off with an ex-Marine that she met online. In a new development, police say the girl appears to have returned to her homeland after a jaunt to Paris. CNN's Jim Boulden following all this from her hometown of Leigh, England. He joins us live -- Jim.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, unfortunately it does not look like Shevaun Pennington is back in the country. But the French police said about an hour and a half ago is that an "S. Pennington" did return from Paris on Saturday night to Liverpool. But the British police here have no record of that, and they say, more importantly, that they doubt that the S. Pennington who came back is the Shevaun Pennington.
So unfortunately, that means that we are back to square one. And square one means that the 31-year-old ex-Marine will soon have an international arrest warrant against him, because the British police want to find him and want to question him and find out how he was able to talk a 12-year-old into leaving Manchester last Saturday, go on to Paris via London, and then on to -- somewhere else, we have no idea where he's gone.
And this also means that the British police are talking to French police very closely. And also U.S. authorities. They say they've gotten very good cooperation from the FBI, from the Marines and from intelligence sources so they could find out more about him. Though they also make it very clear that Toby Studabaker does not have a criminal record.
The family said they thought she was talking to another 12-year- old and they had been talking to each other on Internet on chat lines for the last 12 months. She spent something like five hours a day on the computer at her home. And then that Saturday morning she just took off with some clothes and her passport. And nobody has reported seeing them sense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUPT. PETER MASON, GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE: We have been told, informed by Interpol that an S. Pennington did leave Charles de Gaulle Airport at about quarter to 11 on Saturday evening. However, I'm very, very dubious as to whether that is our Shevaun Pennington as that S. Pennington was part of a group of five persons and it was a pre-booked flight for all five.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BOULDEN: So unfortunately, no real leads at this moment, no clues as to where they've gone. It's been three days since they flew out of here, Kyra. And so that police are saying, they must admit they could be anywhere in the world at this moment -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jim, did she admit her age to this Marine?
BOULDEN: Very good question. The police say they looked through the computer on Sunday. They looked at all the e-mails and they're not sure that the two actually told each other their ages.
The family of Mr. Studabaker has made it very clear that they think he would not have gone with her if he thought he was 12. He told his brother and sister-in-law that he was coming to England to visit a 19-year-old college girl that he had been talking to on the Internet and wanted to find out how serious she was about a relationship.
So he told his family she was 19. We don't know what she told him, in fact, in these e-mails.
PHILLIPS: Jim Boulden, live from England, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired July 15, 2003 - 13:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well tracing the steps a British girl believed to have run off with an ex-Marine that she met online. In a new development, police say the girl appears to have returned to her homeland after a jaunt to Paris. CNN's Jim Boulden following all this from her hometown of Leigh, England. He joins us live -- Jim.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, unfortunately it does not look like Shevaun Pennington is back in the country. But the French police said about an hour and a half ago is that an "S. Pennington" did return from Paris on Saturday night to Liverpool. But the British police here have no record of that, and they say, more importantly, that they doubt that the S. Pennington who came back is the Shevaun Pennington.
So unfortunately, that means that we are back to square one. And square one means that the 31-year-old ex-Marine will soon have an international arrest warrant against him, because the British police want to find him and want to question him and find out how he was able to talk a 12-year-old into leaving Manchester last Saturday, go on to Paris via London, and then on to -- somewhere else, we have no idea where he's gone.
And this also means that the British police are talking to French police very closely. And also U.S. authorities. They say they've gotten very good cooperation from the FBI, from the Marines and from intelligence sources so they could find out more about him. Though they also make it very clear that Toby Studabaker does not have a criminal record.
The family said they thought she was talking to another 12-year- old and they had been talking to each other on Internet on chat lines for the last 12 months. She spent something like five hours a day on the computer at her home. And then that Saturday morning she just took off with some clothes and her passport. And nobody has reported seeing them sense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUPT. PETER MASON, GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE: We have been told, informed by Interpol that an S. Pennington did leave Charles de Gaulle Airport at about quarter to 11 on Saturday evening. However, I'm very, very dubious as to whether that is our Shevaun Pennington as that S. Pennington was part of a group of five persons and it was a pre-booked flight for all five.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BOULDEN: So unfortunately, no real leads at this moment, no clues as to where they've gone. It's been three days since they flew out of here, Kyra. And so that police are saying, they must admit they could be anywhere in the world at this moment -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jim, did she admit her age to this Marine?
BOULDEN: Very good question. The police say they looked through the computer on Sunday. They looked at all the e-mails and they're not sure that the two actually told each other their ages.
The family of Mr. Studabaker has made it very clear that they think he would not have gone with her if he thought he was 12. He told his brother and sister-in-law that he was coming to England to visit a 19-year-old college girl that he had been talking to on the Internet and wanted to find out how serious she was about a relationship.
So he told his family she was 19. We don't know what she told him, in fact, in these e-mails.
PHILLIPS: Jim Boulden, live from England, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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