Authorities believe that three Colorado teenagers likely were recruited online to travel to Germany, apparently on their way to join the Islamic State, school officials said Wednesday.
“Our understanding, our belief is that they were recruited online,” said Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole. “That’s our belief based on information we have from various sources, including investigators. … That’s my understanding of what likely happened.”
The teens also tweeted with fellow students about their trip, Amole said.
“Students came in on Monday morning and reported the tweets to us,” Amole said. “They said they were going to Germany and try to go to Turkey. Some of the students (on Twitter) told them it was a bad idea; others said good luck.”
Later Monday, after officials saw the Twitter posts, the FBI contacted the school district about what had happened, Amole said.
Amole said there were no issues with the girls “as far as we can tell right now.” The girls have not returned to school.
The girls, two of them sisters, 15 and 17, of Somali descent and another, 16, of Sudanese descent, were stopped at an airport in Frankfurt, Germany, after their parents reported them missing Friday to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
One family reported that $2,000 was missing after the girls fled with their passports.
The girls were returned to their parents at Denver International Airport on Monday, the sheriff’s office said.
Amole said the district believes the girls were victims of online predators.
“In most of these cases like this, it’s not so much they want to fight with ISIS,” she said. “They are promised they will have homes, be safe, have husbands and live within their religion.”
“It’s been a wake-up call to us with this type of predator,” she said.
Amole said the district trains teachers to identify when a student becomes disaffected. Cherry Creek also encourages students to approach teachers or principals when they have concerns about a friend or classmate.
In this case, that’s exactly what happened.
“They were troubled enough with what they saw to bring it to our attention,” Amole said.
Nader Hashemi, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver, said Islamic militants are finding young recruits all over the country by appealing to their emotional ties — their ethnic identity — and feelings of social justice.
People in their “teens and early 20s are searching for an identity, a cause, something bigger than themselves,” Hashemi said.
He said Muslims often fear a backlash following reports about people being engaged with terrorists.
Their first reaction, Hashemi said, is “please don’t let it be one of us, because the entire community gets targeted and tainted. There is a lot of fear of backlash, a lot of embarrassment, fear and anxiety about what this will mean for people’s lives, particularly if they wear head scarves.”
Thomas Strentz, a former profiler for the FBI, said those recruiting terrorists go after the same kinds of kids who wind up in cults. Typically, they are idealistic and easily swayed.
“They express sympathy, but they are looking for poor souls to bring to the cause,” Strentz said. “They offer them a chance to fight for freedom.”
Jennifer Gueddiche, director of the African Community Center in Denver, expressed sympathy for the girls.
“These are adolescents, young, impressionable girls who just made a massive mistake,” she said. “They are going to be labeled as terrorists, and I think that is grossly unfair.”
Federal officials in Denver declined to comment further on the case. It’s unclear whether the girls could face charges.
“Per FBI policy, it is only under limited circumstances that we comment on whether the FBI has initiated an investigation,” said Suzie Payne, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Denver division. “When we do initiate investigations, we do not comment on the details of those investigations. This policy is especially firm when juveniles are involved. Thus, we will not be providing any additional information on this matter.”
The U.S. informed German authorities at the airport about the girls arriving alone on their way to Turkey, German Interior Ministry spokeswoman Pamela Mueller-Niese told reporters.
She said the three were detained by German police, with approval from a judge, and returned voluntarily to the U.S. on Sunday.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the girls were headed to Turkey en route to Syria and that investigators are reviewing evidence, including the girls’ computers.
Aurora Interim Police Chief Terry Jones said police have school resources officers in the city’s high schools, including the school the girls attend.
Jones said there was no warning of what the girls might be doing.
“A lot of kids fly under the radar,” he said. “That’s the nature of being kids.”
The news of the three teens follows revelations that a 19-year-old Arvada woman was taken into custody as she tried to board a flight en route to Syria to fight alongside militants.
Shannon Maureen Conley pleaded guilty to a charge of providing material support to al-Qaeda and affiliates, including the Islamic State.
She is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 23.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
