DENVER (AP) – Three teenage girls from suburban Denver being investigated for possibly trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria aren’t radicalized jihadis but rather victims of an online predator, a school official said Wednesday.
At least one of the girls was communicating with someone online who encouraged the three to travel to Syria, said Tustin Amole, a spokesman for the Cherry Creek School District where the girls attend high school. The three were detained at an airport in Germany before being sent home over the weekend and returned to their parents.
“There’s no indication they had been radicalized in a way that they wanted to fight for ISIS,” Amole said, adding that the students had no prior problems aside from unexcused absences on Friday. He did not elaborate.
They did not return to school Wednesday. “Our biggest concern is for the safety and well-being of these girls,” Amole said.
A U.S. official said the evidence gathered so far made it clear that the girls – two sisters, ages 17 and 15, and their 16-year-old friend – were headed to Syria, though the official said investigators were still trying to determine what sort of contacts they had in that country. The official said investigators would be trying to figure out whether there were “like-minded” friends and acquaintances in the girls’ social circle.