Timeline: How Studabaker took off with girl, 12

13 April 2012

Former United States Marine Toby Studabaker triggered an international manhunt when he disappeared with a 12-year-old British girl he had contacted via the Internet.

This is how the drama unfolded:

July 11, 2003

Studabaker tells his brother Leo he is going to England to see a 19-year-old girl he met on the Internet a year ago.
Studabaker catches an overnight flight from Detroit to the UK via Amsterdam.

July 12

0730: The 12-year-old girl leaves home telling her parents she is going shopping, but instead goes to Manchester Airport to meet Studabaker.
0745: Studabaker arrives at Manchester Airport and meets up with the schoolgirl.
1435: The pair fly from Manchester to Heathrow.
1750: They catch a flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
2000 (local time): They arrive in the French capital.
2300: The schoolgirl's parents report her missing.
Her clothes and passport are gone and a search of e-mails on her computer link her to Studabaker.
Police contact Interpol and an all-ports warning is issued to stop them leaving the country, but by now they are already in France.
A worldwide manhunt is launched.

July 14:

The missing girl's parents plead with their daughter to come home or let them know she is safe.

July 15:

Sherry Studabaker, the marine's sister-in-law, appeals to him to hand himself and the girl in to the authorities.
Following a brief telephone conversation with Studabaker, she says he is "not happy" the schoolgirl had lied about her age, insisting he thought she was 19.
1100: Detectives hunting the pair say they are looking at the possibility they may have caught a connecting flight and not stayed in the French capital.
1915: Studabaker's brother Leo says the former US marine has been in contact and told him the missing girl is safe. Studabaker has also contacted the FBI, according to Leo.
2000: The schoolgirl calls her mother to reassure she is safe and still with Studabaker, but does not tell her where and makes no mention of coming home.

July 16

0900: Police release CCTV stills of Studabaker arriving at Manchester Airport on Saturday morning.
1234: The girl's mother makes a personal appeal for her daughter to come home. "Come home. Please come home. That is all we want," she says.
1330: Studabaker is arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, in a joint operation involving Greater Manchester Police, the German authorities and the FBI.
Before his arrest he took the girl to Stuttgart Airport and put her on a flight home.
1425: Police confirm that the girl is safe and well after arriving alone at Manchester Airport on a flight from Stuttgart, via Amsterdam.
Officers say she had been with Studabaker "until very recently".
1429: Studabaker's sister-in-law, Sherry, says news of the arrest is a "relief".
Detectives begin to compile evidence with a view to charging Studabaker with child abduction.
Studabaker had previously been charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl and authorities find child pornography on his home computer.
Police sources also say they have evidence that Studabaker did know the girl's real age, despite his claims to his family that she had told him she was 19.

August 21:

Studabaker, who has been held in Frankfurt since his arrest, is extradited to the UK.

February 12, 2004:

Studabaker pleads guilty to abduction and incitement to gross indecency involving a 12-year-old at Manchester Crown Court.

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