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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah woman is hoping for word via Facebook that her daughter made it safely out of Egypt.
Teresa Allred, 34, was born and raised in Utah but in recent months has been working as a teacher at an English-language school in a Cairo suburb. At last word, she and her Irish fiance, Mark Watson, were stuck at the Cairo airport trying to leave for Utah. They stayed all night Wednesday night waiting for a morning flight.
Allred called her mother, Patti Godfrey of Murray, an hour or so before departure. She said the flight they had tickets for was suddenly canceled.
Godfrey said her daughter was on the verge of tears as the couple scrambled to line up another flight. That was the last contact by cell phone.
Godfrey says Watson's phone operates on an Irish cell network and her daughter's phone only works in Egypt. She believes the couple went to the airport with plenty of food, water and a charger for Allred's cell phone.
"I've tried it all day long and the communication has stopped through her cell phone," Godfrey said. "I do not believe she is still in the Cairo airport. But I don't know for sure."
Now, Godfrey is relying on a 21st Century alternative to cell phones -- Facebook. Not long after the last phone call, Allred posted a message on Facebook, evidently written at the Cairo airport.
She was concerned about being separated from her fiance and she didn't want to leave without him.
–Patti Godfrey
It read, "At least I have now made it to the business lounge. Plane should be leaving in two hours. Overnight layover and then on to Salt Lake City."
After reading that message from her daughter, Godfrey said, "That's the one I'm kind of hanging my hat on right there." She believes the absence of any further message means the couple did get on a plane and flew out of Egypt.
She believes the couple caught a flight to somewhere in Europe and is sleeping it off. "I just know that they were up for 28 hours before they started this trip and I'm just assuming that they're just exhausted," Godfrey said.
The couple chose not to try for one of the evacuation flights offered for American citizens by the U.S. government. They apparently feared leaving the passenger terminal, and they were afraid an Irishman might not be allowed on board.
"She was concerned about being separated from her fiance," Godfrey said, "and she didn't want to leave without him."
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
