Police confirmed on Sunday they had tracked down 14-year-old Dutch sailor Laura Dekker in the Caribbean territory of St Maarten, days after she ran away from home leaving her boat behind.
Dekker made headlines around the world earlier this year when she unsuccessfully went to court as a 13-year-old to fight for the right to set off on a single-handed circumnavigation of the world in her boat, Guppy.
St Maarten police spokesman Ricardo Henson confirmed that Dekker was on the island on Sunday evening and said efforts were under way to get her back to the Netherlands. He declined to provide further details.
PHOTO: AFP
The Child Protection Agency in the Netherlands could not immediately be reached for comment late on Sunday.
St Maarten is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a group of self-governing Caribbean islands that are part of the Dutch kingdom.
Earlier on Sunday, Utrecht police spokesman Bernhard Jens said Dutch authorities issued an international alert after Dekker was reported missing on Friday.
Jens said Dekker’s boat Guppy was still moored at its usual berth.
“We do not believe this is a crime,” Jens said.
Jens would not comment on a report in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that Dekker withdrew 3,500 euros (US$5,000) from her bank account a few days ago.
A family spokeswoman was quoted as saying Dekker left a letter for her father before disappearing. The report did not say what was in the letter.
The spokeswoman, Mariska Woertman, did not return calls seeking comment.
In October, Utrecht District Court refused to let Dekker embark on her attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world single-handed and placed her under the supervision of child care authorities until next July, meaning she could not leave the country without their permission.
Dekker has joint Dutch and New Zealand citizenship because she was born on a yacht in New Zealand waters. She said earlier this year she might try to go there if Dutch authorities refused to let her sail.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure we can get her back,” Jens said. “We are certainly concerned about her health — we are talking about an underage girl.”
After the October court ruling, Woertman said Dekker remained confident she would be ready to sail next July and would still be able to set the record as the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe.
The Utrecht court first blocked her departure in August out of concern for her safety. The decision sparked a worldwide debate on how much authorities and parents should limit children’s freedom to undertake risky adventures.
Laura’s parents, both veteran sailors, are separated. Laura’s father supported the attempt, but her mother said in a newspaper interview in September she thought Laura was too young.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese