After spending months in a country where she didn’t speak the language -- Jakadrien Turner, now 15 years old, has been reunited with her family. CNN has the story.

“She spent most of the past year in Colombia after being deported by the US government -- problem is, she isn’t Colombian, she’s an American teenager who ran away from home. After a shoplifting arrest in Houston, she convinced American and Colombian officials her name was Tika Cortez”

And as Al Jazeera reports -- that fake name matched a 21-year-old woman from Colombia. So...

“...in May last year she was deported to Bogota despite not speaking any Spanish nor having any connection to Colombia. She stayed in Bogota, where it’s believed she got pregnant.”

WFAA originally broke Turner’s story and reports her homecoming was a joyous moment for family members of the teenager.

“She had a big smile on her face. She seemed overwhelmed though with all the attention.”

And her family brought her something special  -- for comfort’s sake.

Family member: “A snuggie -- a blanket.”

Cameraman: “Is that one of her favorite blankets?”

Family member: “Yeah...”

The family’s lawyer says he will vigorously pursue how this happened -- and will consider legal action. The Associated Press reports -- the big questions left now are the legal ramifications of the case -- and who is at fault for deporting a 15-year-old from her own country.

“The case has got US and Colombian officials pointing fingers at one another over who was responsible. Some legal experts say multiple safeguards must have been dropped for this to happen.”


“It’s unclear if Jakadrien will be charged with falsifying her identity in the criminal process.”