Posted on 11/10/2005 6:07:20 AM PST by ncountylee
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - American Embassy officials distributed fliers Thursday in Brazil's capital with pictures of a missing 17-year-old American exchange student last seen trying to hitchhike to Brasilia.
Meanwhile, police in the small city 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the capital where Mykensie Martin was spotted trying to hitch a ride were planning to reconstruct her last known movements before she disappeared Sunday.
Authorities in Unai, a city of 60,000, planned to bring a witness to the highway where he saw Martin so he could describe the scene in more detail, said Unai police detective Celso Avila Prado.
The fliers seeking information on Martin have already been distributed to taxi drivers and at gas stations, bus stations and restaurants in Brasilia, said John Wilcock, an embassy spokesman.
Diplomatic personnel were focusing their efforts Thursday on parts of the capital with large American expatriate populations.
"There's a chance she may gravitate toward areas where Americans live," Wilcock said. "What we've done is try to focus on where she was seen last and where she has said she was heading to."
Ivan Vianna, director of the Rotary exchange program for the region where the girl was staying 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Brasilia, pleaded Thursday for Martin to contact authorities.
"If she is seeing or hearing this, we are making this request 'Mykensie, come back,'" Vianna said in an interview on Brazil's Globo TV, which reaches almost all corners of Latin America's largest country.
Martin told the witness in Unai that she was on her way to an event sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brasilia and did not have enough money for a bus ticket, said Unai police detective Celso Avila Prado. Embassy officials have posted fliers along the road leading to the city
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.tbo.com ...
She was hitch hiking in BRAZIL?!! Goodbye.
When I graduated High School in 1975, the Key Club convention was in New Orleans. When Natalie Holloway went missing on Aruba I called my mother and asked, "What the hell was wrong with you letting me go to New Orleans?"
Umm, I think this says it all.
Dead meat.
She obviously had a death wish or was the Darwin awardee of the month.
Time for Greta to get down there for yet ANOTHER months-long beating-to-death story on yet another missing female (who also just happens to be youung, white, American, probably pretty and probably with parents who will be in front of our T.V. cameras for the next year).
What did your mom say to that?
Wonder if these stories will cause an attitude change among parents of teenagers. Moms & Dads, these are NOT merely "young adults," they are children who are not ready for these things!
Mykensie Martin
Pretty girl + Brazil = Vanished :-(
"a missing 17-year-old American exchange student last seen trying to hitchhike to Brasilia. "
Note to all the teenage girls out there: if you wish to hitchhike alone overseas, try it in the U.S. first. /sarc
You mean: If you wish to hitchhike alone overseas, without a loaded gun, much less any spare ammunition, then try it in the U.S. first.
"Wonder if these stories will cause an attitude change among parents of teenagers."
The stupid will always be among us.
What were the parents thinking? Brazil is a very dangerous place for adult tourists, let alone a beautiful teenager.
Unfortunately, today many teenagers think they are bulletproof and invisible, even in third world countries where angels fear to tread.
Except now they have a major political party that caters to their every whim.
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