A Jordanian soccer player who vanished from Rice University and triggered a Houston-area search says he made a bad call: after a sleepless late-night walk, he took a bus to Chicago at a friend’s urging, then discovered he had become the subject of a missing-person alert. Rabe’e Ata Juma’a Alqaq is safe, and authorities say they do not suspect foul play.
In an Arabic-language interview posted by Sawa.us and detailed by Click2Houston, Alqaq said he could not sleep after arriving in the United States for the Genuine Cup. He went for a walk around the Rice campus, spoke with a friend in Chicago and accepted an invitation to visit.
How A Chicago Bus Ride Became A Houston Search
Before Alqaq’s explanation, the trip looked like a disappearance with few clues. The Houston Chronicle reported that he left campus late Saturday night after telling teammates he was going for a walk, then missed breakfast the next morning. Surveillance video showed him walking around Rice, while police believed his phone was relying on Wi-Fi rather than a cellular data plan.
Alqaq said he traveled by bus for about two days, stopping in multiple states without internet access. When he reached the Chicago area around 8 a.m., he found Wi-Fi, saw reports that he was missing and contacted Rice police, according to the KPRC report.
Rice officials said the department coordinated with Illinois law enforcement, the Jordanian Consulate in Texas and Alqaq’s soccer team to confirm he was safe. His team arranged a flight back to Houston, and Alqaq said he felt he had let the group down before thanking teammates and others who had expressed concern.
