A Royal Jordanian Airways air marshal who disappeared from the Chicago area on Saturday has been located in Florida and may be seeking asylum in this country, the FBI's Chicago office said Monday.
Ali Alimora, 30, was being questioned at the FBI's Jacksonville, Fla., office, Chicago FBI spokesman Ross Rice said.
Rice said Alimora was not arrested and there was no suggestion that he had committed any crime or was affiliated with any terrorist organization.
Rice did say the air marshal did not have a visa that would permit him to remain in the United States.
Alimora and three other air marshals arrived in Chicago on Thursday aboard a Royal Jordanian Airways flight.
They were scheduled to fly to Jordan aboard a flight leaving O'Hare International Airport on Saturday night. But Alimora phoned airline security officials before the flight and said he intended to stay in the United States. The airline notified the FBI.
Rice said federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents involved in an unrelated narcotics investigation spotted Alimora aboard a Florida-bound train on Monday, based on a description circulated by the FBI.
DEA agents notified the FBI which met Alimora when he arrived in Jacksonville, Rice said. He said that the air marshal "may be seeking asylum," based on an initial conversation Alimora had with agents.
If Alimora maintains a request for asylum within the United States, he could be turned over to the Immigration Customs Enforcement Bureau which investigates such cases, Rice said.
He said he did not yet know why Alimora might be seeking asylum.