Two missing Amman girls found in Irbid

AMMAN — A 15-year-old girl and her friend who went missing last week were found Tuesday in an apartment in Irbid, according to the police and the father of one of the two girls.

"Police called me around 9am and informed me that they found my daughter Shaima and her friend in an apartment in Irbid," Khaled Abdel Hadi, Shaima’s father, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday.

"The moment Shaima saw me and her mother she ran towards us, cried and hugged us tight," said the father, who added that Shaima and her friend were being questioned at the time of the phone call.

“They are currently in Amman and by the evening they will be home. I do not know what happened yet to my daughter. She did not tell me anything at all. What matters for now is that police found her and her friend,” said Abdel Hadi.

Shaima and her 16-year-old friend were found in an apartment along with another person in the eastern neighbourhood of Irbid city, according to the Public Security Department.

The city is less than 40 kilometres from the Syrian border.

In its statement, the police said the two girls were in good health and were referred to the Family Protection Department, adding that an investigation got under way with the person who was found in the apartment.

Each girl met her parents at the Family Protection Department where the parents checked on the health of their daughters and listened to their story, the police statement added. 

Later in the day, parents of the two girls rejected the statement by the police, describing it as insulting.

The parents said their daughters were kidnapped and that the kidnapper had sent them pictures of the two girls handcuffed, but when the parents informed the police about the pictures they were asked not to share that with the media, fearing threat to the girls lives. 

In another statement Tuesday, the police said it did not mean any insult. 

The statement added that the girls were not kidnapped and they asked the person in the apartment to take pictures of them while handcuffed  to justify their absencet. 

Last Thursday, Shaima and Jumana went to an educational centre in Jabal Hussein to attend an English language course. 

They arrived at the facility, finished the training and left at around 1pm but never returned home.

The incident went viral on social media sites, with much speculation about their whereabouts.