Amy L. Edwards and Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writers
7:49 p.m. EDT, September 14, 2009
In an investigative report unsealed today, FDLE did not discover any threats toward Rifqa Bary or her family in Ohio.
Although officials in two states have yet to prove it, Fathima Rifqa Bary told investigators she would become the victim of an "honor killing" because of her conversion to Christianity.
The Ohio teen had planned locations thousands of miles away from her home -- known as "fire drills" -- where she could seek refuge. Orlando was her "primary planned sanctuary," and that's exactly where Rifqa ended up in July.
Those were among the details of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report that said investigators found no credible reports of threats toward the 17-year-old runaway. The report was unsealed Monday. Rifqa's taped interview with investigators remains sealed.
" . . . FDLE's inquiry to date has failed to reveal any evidence of a conspiracy to commit, solicitation to commit, attempt or other efforts to commit any such action or other violence against her," the report said.
FDLE's seven-page investigative summary includes interviews with Ohio school officials; with Rifqa's father, who has denied threatening his daughter; and with Brian M. Williams, a 23-year-old with ties to Columbus and Kansas City, Mo.
Williams baptized Rifqa and helped her get to Florida, according to the report.
The Islamic community was not investigated. Investigators checked with local, state and federal authorities in Columbus and Orlando and "have not been made aware of any identifiable threat."
Rifqa made international headlines after she ran away from her home near Columbus, Ohio, in mid-July, took a Greyhound bus to Florida and sought shelter with an Orlando family.
Rifqa, 17, has said she left Ohio because she feared she would be hurt or killed by her Muslim family because she converted to Christianity. She stayed with longtime Central Florida pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz for more than two weeks before a judge placed her in state foster care, where she remains.
Other than her father, Rifqa did not identify anyone who have verbally or physically threatened her with death, the report said.
Also in the report:
-- Rifqa told investigators she had been abused by her father throughout her childhood, but her parents and older brother denied such allegations or using any harsh punishment. An Ohio school official told investigators the district had no records of alleged abuse.
-- Rifqa told investigators a high school teacher offered to let her stay at her house if Rifqa "needed to escape repercussions from her family due to her Christian religious beliefs." Investigators questioned the teacher, Debbie Crump, who told them she wasn't aware of any danger toward Rifqa. The teacher said she made the offer to Rifqa because her brother was having parties at the house when the Barys were out of town and the teacher was concerned for Rifqa's safety in that environment.
-- Rifqa may not have hitchhiked to a bus station on July 20. That's what she told investigators, but Williams told them he picked her up from a residence and drove her to the station. Rifqa's bus ticket was purchased in Orlando under a fictitious name. The report does not say who purchased it.
Reached recently by the Sentinel, Williams said he couldn't talk because he was already overextended on his cell phone minutes. Williams has not responded to multiple e-mails, Internet or telephone messages seeking comment.
Meanwhile, the Lorenzes' spiritual journey has taken a new path in Orlando.
A schism in their evangelical congregation, Global Revolution Church, led to them being banned from meeting in the movie theater that had been the church home. They abandoned -- voluntarily, they said -- the church name.
On Sunday, the Lorenzes and about 60 adults worshiped in an unair-conditioned warehouse in south Orange County. One of their music leaders set her keyboard atop a sawhorse. An audio-visual team propped a projector on a 10-foot ladder, secured by a piece of wood and a C-clamp.
Still, the Lorenzes preached, and the congregation prayed, sang and praised Jesus together.
Amy L. Edwards can be reached at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5735. Rene Stutzman can be reached at rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6394.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
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