Megan Stammers, the missing fifteen year-old has been found and her teacher has been taken into custody in France. The teen’s family said they felt joyful over her being found safely.
Jeremy Forrest (30), who was the maths teacher of Megan Stammers has been arrested as a suspect of child abduction in the French city of Bordeaux following his disappearance, along with the 15-year-old, a week ago. ITN News said that on Tuesday Jeremy Forrest was set to appear in a court in France.
Megan Stammers
According to chief inspector Jason Tingley of Sussex Police, the couple were seen in Bordeaux on Thursday by someone who remembered seeing Forrest on TV.
This came as the third possible sighting of the two in Bordeaux. They were finally confronted by police soon after 12PM yesterday.
Martin Stammers, stepfather of Megan Stammers said to journalists at a press conference: "We just can't wait to be reunited with her. Our family are overjoyed at the outcome. As you can imagine it's been an absolute emotional roller-coaster."
It is thought that Megan Stammers has talked with her family, and her mother is going to go and collect her at some point in the next few days.
Martin Stammers thanked the police, the media and the public for continuing to publicize the disappearance, saying: "I just can't put it into words how grateful we are as a family."
He went on to request that the media now leave them alone so that they can "bond as a family".
Tingley commented: "Megan is now in the care of British consular staff and Sussex Police child protection team officers.
She will be returned to the UK to be with her family. Jeremy is in custody in Bordeaux after his arrest and the process of his extradition will now commence."
Megan Stammers was reported as missing after failing to attend school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, last Friday.
It soon came to light that she’d travelled to France with Forrest the evening before which sparked a media-fuelled search.
Jim and Julie Forrest, Jeremy Forrest's parents, stated: "We are pleased that Megan and Jeremy have been found safe and well.
This has been an ordeal for all the families concerned. We would like to thank Sussex and the French police as well as the British media for their assistance.
We are relieved that the search is finally over and everyone can now focus on a safe and secure return for them both."
The headmaster of Bishop Bell C of E School which Megan Stammers goes to, Terry Boatwright, commented that they were all "delighted" that the police had found her.
He added: "Throughout the last week, finding Megan has been everyone's priority and a major focus of our thoughts and prayers in school.
Clearly, much needs to be done now to support Megan, and her family, as they seek to return to some sort of normality and we will do all we can to play our part in that."
No comments:
Post a Comment