ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Police say a missing Pennsylvania teenager traveled to Mexico with a 45-year-old man, and they encouraged her Friday to return home to her family.
Amy Yu and Kevin Esterly bought one-way tickets from Philadelphia to Dallas and then headed to Cancun, Allentown police said. They say they believe the teen went willingly.
Amy’s family previously said the two met at church years ago, and the 16-year-old girl is friends with one of Esterly’s daughters.
Esterly’s wife, Stacy Esterly, said through her lawyer that she and her husband have been fighting constantly since the summer about his relationship with Amy, according to The Morning Call of Allentown.
“Kevin indicated that he was attempting to be her dad, a father figure to Amy,” lawyer John Waldron told the newspaper. “Stacy did not believe it to be merely a father-daughter relationship, and that’s why there were fights. They were fighting every day over Amy.”
Mexican authorities had issued an Amber Alert for Amy.
Allentown Police Capt. Bill Lake encouraged Amy to contact her mother and go to law enforcement in Mexico for help getting home.
Amy was reported missing last week.
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