Girl, 16, who was lured to London by older man is found

Victoria Grabowski, 16, of Queens, New York City, was found in Nottingham on Wednesday

A 16-year-old girl from New York City who was lured to Britain by an older man she met on Facebook has been found two days after she landed in London.

Victoria Grabowski, of Queens, is said to have flown to Heathrow at the weekend after paying for a flight in cash from New York’s John F Kennedy Airport.

She arrived in London on Monday before police found her safe and well 130 miles away in Nottingham yesterday.

Her parents Renata and Radoslaw are said to have discovered text messages which show the Polish citizen had been talking with an older man in Britain.

Victoria is now being looked after by specialist officers in Britain, and a man aged 42 has been arrested in the UK in connection with her disappearance. 

New York Police Department chief of detectives Dermot Shea told reporters yesterday: ‘We’ll get her back here to her parents. She’s safe and sound.’  

Victoria (above) is said to have flown to London at the weekend after paying for a flight in cash

Victoria (above) is said to have flown to London at the weekend after paying for a flight in cash

She boarded a flight from John F Kennedy Airport before arriving at Heathrow on Monday

Mr Shea, whose team worked with detectives in Britain on the case, added that Victoria had ‘developed some sort of a relationship with a man’.

He also thanked the ‘London Metro PD and the Notting-shire PD’. Victoria was found when police in London received a tip after someone recognised her with a man.

The 5ft 3in teenager, who was previously last seen at her home at around 10am local time on Saturday, is believed to have used her Polish passport to travel to London.

Her father Radoslaw raised the alarm after getting home from work on Saturday and seeing the front door ‘wide open’. He also found that her clothes were missing.

Her parents Renata and Radoslaw live in a $610,000 (£500,000) house in the Maspeth area of Queens, near the Long Island Expressway road

Her parents Renata and Radoslaw live in a $610,000 (£500,000) house in the Maspeth area of Queens, near the Long Island Expressway road

A man answered the door at the family home in the Queens area of New York City yesterday, telling a reporter from local TV station Pix 11 that Victoria is 'OK'

A man answered the door at the family home in the Queens area of New York City yesterday, telling a reporter from local TV station Pix 11 that Victoria is ‘OK’

Victoria’s parents were said to have been unsure how she could have paid for the Delta Airlines flight from JFK Airport herself. Her mobile phone was switched off.

Her uncle Arkadiusz Grabowski told the New York Post last night: ‘She is still in police custody in the UK. He was arrested. Of course we are [relieved].’ 

He said her parents found she was talking to an older man in a group chat, adding: ‘The texts show that she got fascinated with London and wanted to move there.’

The uncle said Victoria’s parents think the man she was talking to is older, based on a photo in the text thread.

New York Police Department chief of detectives Dermot Shea told reporters at a press conference yesterday: 'We'll get her back here to her parents. She's safe and sound'

New York Police Department chief of detectives Dermot Shea told reporters at a press conference yesterday: ‘We’ll get her back here to her parents. She’s safe and sound’

The family hired a Polish private investigator called Krzysztof Rutkowski, one of the country’s best known detectives, to help find their daughter.

The uncle said Victoria’s mother had seen her chatting with a man online, and when she was confronted about it, she answered: ‘It’s nobody, just a friend.’ 

Her family live in a $610,000 (£500,000) house in the Maspeth area of Queens, near the Long Island Expressway road.

Radoslaw and Renata Grabowski emigrated from Poland to the US about 20 years ago, before Victoria and her brother were born in the US. 

Victoria (pictured) had last been seen at her home in the Maspeth area of Queens, New York

Victoria (pictured) had last been seen at her home in the Maspeth area of Queens, New York

Arkadiusz Grabowski added: ‘She was an honour student, a very good girl, she didn’t have boyfriends, didn’t go out. Very quiet honour student.’

On Monday, family friend Bernadetta Gajdzinski appealed on Facebook for help with the search for the missing girl.

She said: ‘I have a great request to all my friends and acquaintances – those living in London and all of you who have family or acquaintances there.

‘On Saturday the daughter of my friends travelled from New York to London without their knowledge. She is 16 years old and her name is Victoria Grabowski.

New York Police Department issued a poster urging people with information to come forward

New York Police Department issued a poster urging people with information to come forward

‘Please send these photos further maybe someone will meet or notice her and then report it to the police. Help us find her.’

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘Nottinghamshire Police officers have safely located a 16-year-old girl in Nottinghamshire.

‘The girl, who was reported missing in the US, is now safe and well and is being looked after by specialist officers. 

‘A 42-year-old man has been arrested in connection with this case and remains in police custody.’

The girl used her Polish passport to board the flight from New John F Kennedy Airport (above)

The girl used her Polish passport to board the flight from New John F Kennedy Airport (above)

A Scotland Yard spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘The Met was contacted by the National Crime Agency regarding a 16-year-old US citizen who was believed to have travelled to the UK via Heathrow Airport on Saturday, August 24.

‘She was treated as a missing person and located on Wednesday, August 28. The US authorities have been informed.’ 

An NYPD spokesman told MailOnline this morning: ‘The investigation has brought us to locating the female and we are working with our partners overseas.’

He said Victoria ‘was located, she is now safe there’ and will be ‘reunited with her parents’, adding that ‘the individual that she had met over there is now identified’. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74682), logging onto the Crimestoppers website or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk