MISSING TEEN'S MOM STOPPED AT BORDER

The Kamloops mother of a teen who vanished in Las Vegas 14 months ago
says she won't let U.S. authorities keep her from the work of finding
her daughter.

Glendene Grant said she was not allowed to enter the U.S. this week
as she tried to board a plane for Las Vegas. Grant was bound for the
Nevada city to meet with investigators and others there about the
disappearance of her daughter Jessie Foster.

While she has been allowed into the U.S. many times before, this time
around border guards pulled her aside and told her to turn around.

Grant said she has a criminal conviction for possession of a small
amount of marijuana from 21 years ago, and wonders if that was the
reason she was denied entry.

The border authorities told her she would remain flagged and further
attempts to cross into the U.S. would also be refused.

What upset her the most, however, was the reaction of the woman in
charge, who coldly told her it was probably her daughter's fault if
she had run into trouble in Las Vegas.

"She said to me, 'Did your daughter choose to go to Las Vegas? Well,
she made the choice then, didn't she?' " Grant said.

Upset, Grant said she asked to speak to the woman's boss, a request
that prompted the woman to call security and have Grant escorted out.

Grant said she is hopeful a resolution can be reached and a means for
her to cross the border identified. An RCMP officer in Vancouver
listened to her story, and promised to get to the bottom of why she
was denied entry this time when she hasn't been denied in the past.

Until then, she will continue to contact investigators by e-mail and
phone, and work from a distance to keep her daughter's face fresh in
the minds of a city that sees many people go missing every year.

"Right now, my job is finding Jessie," she said.