My family and I desperately need help bringing our father back home from the United Arab Emirates. He has been detained by the UAE Airport authorities. My father and my brother were returning home from their “Father and Son” trip from Bangkok, Thailand. They had an 11-hour flight layover at the Abu Dhabi International Airport before being able to head back home to Dallas/Fort Worth. They decided to have a short night tour in Abu Dhabi before checking in for their final destination to come back home.

But my father still hasn’t made it to the United States.

When my father and brother went through the U.S. PreClearance, my father was randomly selected for the “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” My father was then separated from my brother because the authorities required him to proceed through US Customs and Immigration. Once through, my brother was then able to call our father, and this was when he found out that our father was being detained due to taking a video of the authorities searching through his bags. We feel he may have filmed them to capture some evidence as the manner of the search took him by surprise. He had been traveling for over 20 hours so he was extremely tired when this occurred. Our father meant no ill intent or harm in his actions, and we offer our deepest apologies to the UAE government and authorities.

We still don’t know what our father is being charged for, and haven't heard from him since 11/20/17, and don't know if he’s safe. He has health issues including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and scoliosis. He also may have a fractured rib due to a fall from a mountain biking excursion in Thailand. He’s in a tremendous amount of pain from it. Please, help us bring our father back home safely.

Please see updates of our father below in the Updates section; as we'll be utilizing Change.Org as our official form of communication with our supporters and media.

Furthermore, please bring awareness to our situation by sharing our story and signing the petition.

Sincerely, Elaine Strathern and Jonathan Lee