The father of the American citizen is a former army officer.
New Delhi:
A 27-year-old US national living here allegedly abducted himself after running out of money in an attempt to extort cash from his parents, police said on Sunday.
He told that the woman, identified as Chloe McLaughlin, had come to Delhi on May 3. He is a graduate of a US university and his father, who lives in Washington DC, is an ex-army officer.
Police said that on July 7 McLaughlin called her mother and said she was in an “unsafe environment” and was being assaulted and beaten up by an acquaintance.
He however did not disclose his current location, he said.
Her mother contacted authorities in India and the US Embassy referred the matter to the New Delhi District Police.
Police said the case was registered more than two-and-a-half months after the victim came to India.
On July 10, McLaughlin again spoke to his mother via a video call on WhatsApp, but before his mother could know any more about him, a man came into the room and their call was cut.
New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrita Guguloth said the United States Embassy speculated that the woman was either disabled or was being prevented from contacting her family or the embassy.
Police said they used technical intelligence and, to trace his most recent whereabouts, sought help from Yahoo.com with an IP address, McLaughlin reported on July 9 to the US Civil Services regarding his immigration document work. An e-mail was sent to
The official said that when the Immigration Bureau was requested to provide the immigration form of the alleged victim, they gave the police the address which she had shared with them, which was in Greater Noida.
Accordingly, the police raided a hotel where he was suspected to be staying. But the staff there said that no one in his name had checked in at his hotel.
Meanwhile, investigators found that McLaughlin was using someone else’s WiFi when he made a video call to his mother, Guguloth said.
“Our team tracked down the IP address and mobile network associated with the IP address that led us to 31-year-old Okorofor Chibuike Okoro, a Nigerian national in Gurugram.
He told the police that the woman was living in Greater Noida.”
Following his input, police tracked down McLaughlin and arrested him.
The DCP said that when McLaughlin was questioned, he confessed that he had planned the kidnapping as he had run out of money within days of reaching Delhi, after which he and his boyfriend Okoro took their parents off. Planned to recover money from ,
Police said the woman’s passport had expired on June 6 and her lover’s passport had also expired.
She had come to India to be with Okoro, whom she had befriended on Facebook before coming here.
Both were living here together and were fond of singing. This could be the reason why they became friends, the police officer said.
Police said legal action is being taken against both of them for staying in India for longer periods without a valid passport and visa.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)