The teen stowaway, whose 5 1/2-hour journey from San Jose, Calif., to Maui in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines jet captured the world's attention, has left Hawaii, officials said.
A statement from the Hawaii Department of Human Services late Friday night said that the teen is "safe and no longer in Hawaii." The department said that it has "no further involvement in the case."
Santa Clara resident Yahya Abdi scaled the fence at San Jose Airport on April 20, stowing away in a Boeing 767's wheel, surviving high altitudes, low oxygen and freezing temperatures. When he was found several hours later in Maui’s main airport, he was hospitalized for breathing problems and said he was running away from home.
Yahya's father Abdilahi Yusuf arrived in Hawaii last week to meet his son. Sources told the San Jose Mercury News that Hawaii social service agency officials have denied the father Yusuf access to his son.
A social worker likely escorted the teenager back to the South Bay sometime yesterday evening, according to sources.
According to media reports, Yahya was trying to go to Africa to see his mother, who lives in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
He had just transferred to Santa Clara High school where, according to his dad, he was having academic troubles.
There is no word yet on when the teen will be coming back to his Santa Clara home, and officials will not comment on where he is.
Photo Credit: AP
