Laura Dekker FOUND: Missing Sailor Found In Caribbean

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Police confirmed Sunday they have tracked down 14-year-old Dutch sailor Laura Dekker in the Caribbean territory of St. Maarten, days after she ran away from home leaving her boat behind.

Dekker made headlines around the world earlier this year when she unsuccessfully went to court as a 13-year-old to fight for the right to set off on a single-handed circumnavigation of the world in her boat, Guppy.

St. Maarten police spokesman Ricardo Henson confirmed that Dekker was on the island Sunday evening, and said efforts are under way to get her back to the Netherlands. He declined to provide further details.

The Child Protection Agency in the Netherlands could not immediately be reached for comment late Sunday.

St. Maarten is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a group of self-governing Caribbean islands that are part of the Dutch kingdom.

Earlier Sunday, Utrecht police spokesman Bernhard Jens said Dutch authorities issued an international alert after Dekker was reported missing Friday.

Jens said Dekker's boat Guppy, was still moored at its usual berth.

"We do not believe this is a crime," Jens said.

Jens would not comment on a report in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant that Dekker withdrew euro3,500 ($5,000) from her bank account a few days ago.

NOS cited a family spokeswoman as saying that Laura left a letter for her father before disappearing. It did not say what was in the letter.

The spokeswoman, Mariska Woertman, did not return calls seeking comment.

In October, Utrecht District Court refused to let Dekker embark on her attempt to become the youngest person to sail alone around the world, and placed her under the supervision of child care authorities until next July, meaning she could not leave the country without their permission.

Dekker has joint Dutch and New Zealand citizenship because she was born on a yacht in New Zealand waters. She said earlier this year she might try to go there if Dutch authorities refused to let her sail.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure we can get her back," Jens said. "We are certainly concerned about her health – we are talking about an underage girl."

After the October court ruling Woertman said Dekker remained confident she would be ready to sail next July and would still be able to set the record as the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe.

The Utrecht court first blocked her departure in August out of concern for her safety. The decision sparked a worldwide debate on how much authorities and parents should limit children's freedom to undertake risky adventures.

Laura's parents, both veteran sailors, are separated. Laura's father supported the attempt, but her mother said in a newspaper interview in September she thought Laura was too young.

Comments

[LCDTV]

09:21 AM on 12/22/2009

a good thing that the police found her before tiger woods found her.

[avshanbh]

12:21 PM on 12/22/2009

lol

[FalstaffsMind]

09:18 AM on 12/21/2009

This whole idea that a person at age 14 is still a child is a very recent development historically speaking. Joan of Arc was only 16 when she led the French Army. Of course she was burned at the stake at 19, so maybe that's a bad example. Pocahontas was 12 when she intervened to save John Smith. Sacajawea was 15 when she traversed half the United States on foot with a baby on her back in the company of Lewis and Clark.

Point being, people are quick to label this young women a child, incapable and misguided, but we mint coins and celebrate women her age as historical figures of great import.

[antara]

04:23 PM on 12/21/2009

Fanned. As for Laura Dekker I hope she makes it.

[Acleacius]

09:00 PM on 12/21/2009

Truely spoken, I have no idea how this behavior came about here in the US, my only guess would be since WW2, religion has stealthed it's way, illegally I might add, into the US government. Even though out our short history in the US, women were married and having childeren by age 12 and this was going on for thousands of years before on the planet before.

Science is even on board with this, several studies have mentioned the lack of a hormone in women is one of the main causes of breast cancer. The hormone is normally released from child birth in women before the age of 20, iirc.

I am in no way suggested women should be forced to be married during their teen years, that would be sexist at the very least, but to make a law trying to stop women from having a family when their bodies were designed to have children is criminal in and of it's self.

Most probably violates the Equal Rights amendment, which is probably why the 15 remaining states preventing the amendment from the US Constitution. It would give women too many rights according to religious and right wing socoipaths.

[captain hooker]

12:56 PM on 12/22/2009

I think you have some valid points - biologically.

The problem is that socially, we have stunted the emotional maturity of our teens. At 18, too many are ill-equipped for the stress of a real job or college, much less the stress of parenthood.

[Okieborn]

08:41 AM on 12/21/2009

Some teens are more mature than their parents !!
This young lady seems to fit that category !!!

[plzchuteme]

10:01 AM on 12/23/2009

More accurately: Some adults are less mature than some teens. This young woman is not showing any particular signs of maturity. She has her sights set on fame and notoriety...hardly a mature well thought out reason for undertaking such an adventure.

[Acleacius]

04:29 AM on 12/21/2009

Sounds like she wants to get away from both here parents and by sailing she is in control, not them. Sounds like she just needs a friend, like so many from broken homes, too bad.

[Cinnamonape]

12:55 AM on 12/21/2009

Why does the link from the front page call her "Prolific"?

It says "Prolific Dutch Teenage Sailor Found".

Maybe they meant "Profligate"?

[Usama]

12:08 AM on 12/21/2009

I dunno. She's already dealing with her parents separation which is difficult for adult offspring let alone a 14 yr old. She's apparently not well adjusted given that she removed $5000 from her acccount and ran away to an island without permission AT AGE 14!!!!
18? Ok fine. 16? Maybe, maybe not. But 14? 14 yr old girls in the Netherlands are not much different from American 14 yr olds, im guessing.
Did she consider how her mother felt? Does she care? Or is she rebelling against her and her father encourages this?
These are not actions of a world class sailor, they are the actions of a highly (over) privileged, unstable teen age girl. Her father likely encouraged her to do these things as part of his own instability. Encourage your 14 yr old girl to sail past the East coast of Africa and the Sea of Phillipines (both pirate laden) and around Cape Horn and Cape Hope alone?. The Dutch govt did the right thing by looking after her inspite of her father.

[lisakaz2]

08:48 PM on 12/20/2009

She REALLY wants to be away from her family. Gotta wonder why.

[WilliamL]

08:04 PM on 12/20/2009

too much money and time at her access-

[balancedsolution]

07:29 PM on 12/20/2009

It's ridiculous to allow these young people to do these sailings.

What type of parents would be ok with this?

[johnnygoodwud]

07:18 PM on 12/20/2009

children at that age,,,,,,,,usually make decisions based on emotion,,,,,,,,,not reasoning,,,,,,,,,know why, because they haven't been on the planet long enough to develop those type of skills. what happens when she makes a mistake and all those people called in to risk their lives to rescue her, and the $$$$ it cost for the rescue. publicity stunt, nothing more. if it wasn't she wouldn't be in such a hurry to sail.

[yankeetwo]

08:41 PM on 12/20/2009

MANY people, including adults, make decisions based on emotion. Otherwise, nobody would be buying flashy new cars every 2 years. Not a single adventurer has ever made a decision to undertake an adventure based on logic. It's done for love and the challenge. This girl seems to be mature beyond her years. Some people are, for example Mozart, who was composing symphonies by age four. HE wasn't on the planet long enough to develop those skills, either.

Doesn't Laura Dekker deserve HER shot at fame and glory? She wasn't born into music, but she WAS born into sailing, and she is a far more experienced sailor than many an adult, whose decision would never be questioned. There may be a disagreement between her parents, but it's clear which side Laura is on. If she's old enough to be held responsible for a crime (as in the US), she's old enough to make this decision.

If she is loses this opportunity due to governmental action, then it should do as I suggested earlier, i.e. recognize her record as youngest female to circle the earth by sailboat, even if set later, when she is finally permitted to go (even if that is when she's 20, or 50 for that matter), or pay her far more than it (including all economic, academic and social opportunities, as well as the fame and glory) was worth in cash compensation.

So I don't blame her for running away; I just hope she's OK.

[Usama]

12:18 AM on 12/21/2009

Your calculations for govt compensation are farreaching. She's unstable and needs supervision. It doesn't matter what her aspirations are at this point, she has shown herself to be mentally immature and emotionally unstable. But these are par for a teenage girl. Her father is likely behind her unreasonable goals. There's more to life and maturity than piloting a sea vessel. I get the impression that her father would not be so moved if she actually died on her voyage given that it would be an honorable sailor's death.
Just because someone wants to perform a dangerous task and has obsticals to overcome to do so and authorities block them doesn't mean they deserve compensation. There are a lot of people who want to climb Mt Everest but fail to meet the govt requirements. Do they deserve compensation from the Nepalese govt?

[Gover]

11:26 AM on 12/21/2009

No. She doesn't deserve that shot. She's 14 f***ing years old. It doesn't matter how much experience she has sailing, the experience she doesn't have, is to fully comprehend what she's getting herself into. She would be sailing some waters that have NOTHING to do with skill but rather luck. A 14 year old doesn't have the maturity level to balance the potential rewards with the potential risks. That's why they aren't adults. Just look at her running away and stuff. She's not emotionally stable enough to make these decisions.

What is this obsession with being the "youngest" to do something? There's not point in it. When people made these first around the world voyages they had a value to society: you could tell other people what was out there so they didn't have to go or could bring a map if they were determined to go. Now it's nothing more than a personal challenge and that can be done when she's older.

If we let her go, we'll have to let the 13 year old go that wants to break her record go, then the 12 year old that breaks his, then 11 year olds, then 10 year olds, and where does it stop? Are you going to let a 5 year old get on a boat and try to sail the world?

[SemperVeritas]

06:43 PM on 12/20/2009

Where are the parents??

Did neither of them notice her missing???

[yankeetwo]

06:23 PM on 12/20/2009

That said (see my other post), I don't blame her for running away. I hope she's OK.

[yankeetwo]

05:29 PM on 12/20/2009

I think it's simple. If it takes her a year to make the trip, and she is delayed a year by her government, then the date of her finish must be pushed back a year. on the record. In other words, if she tried to leave on July 1, 2009, but her government delays her departure until July 1, 2010, and it takes her one year to complete her trip, she, and the world, must record and accept a finish date of July 1, 2010!

Is that not simple enough? Laura Dekker must not be denied an opportunity to set the record as the youngest female sailor to sail around the world because her government forced her to delay her departure. This is none of its business.

Of course that might not be fair to OTHER competitors, but let the Dutch government deal with that; it's their problem, not hers. And if THAT method of accounting sets a record for the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the Earth, then it is hers, to claim and use as she sees fit. She can write a book about her record-setting adventure, and go on the Tonight Show. She can go on a promotional book-signing tour, and when it comes time to apply to Harvard or for a job at REI, then she can include that record on her application. What right does the Dutch government, or anyone else have to deny her that? I say, NONE WHATSOEVER.

[tttony]

07:55 PM on 12/20/2009

She's not an American, but I'm sure there are child protections in the Dutch laws.
Kids in this country can't drive, drink, smoke or vote. Did our government have the right to tell them not to?

[JFH 75]

05:32 PM on 12/21/2009

As she is a minor her mother has every right to prevent her from doing so. The idea that times should be adjusted simply because she desired to begin earlier than she eventually will is ludicrous. Who knows if she even would have been able to secure financing for this undertaking within the next year or two?

World records are not subject to laws, but to facts. It is a fact that she will not have finished this journey by July 2010. It's a fact that she has now thrown a hissy fit and "run away"....tellingly enough to a different area that shares her own language and customs. That alone is a sign that she is not ready to deal with the world on her own.

[kelly odell]

02:59 PM on 12/20/2009

btw let us not forget young Jessica Dubroff, the 7 year old who wanted to fly around the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwQmRPiJEUU

[kelly odell]

02:53 PM on 12/20/2009

Two words: giant squid.

[tttony]

07:04 PM on 12/20/2009

Ok, 5 words. Big, big plate of calamari.

[Mahi Joe]

09:38 PM on 12/20/2009

I can summerize it in one word....."Burp"

[ohnoforgotmyusername]

11:52 AM on 12/28/2009

best comment ever!