Wake County woman jailed in Honduras returns home
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Amanda LaRoque arrived in the Triangle early Thursday morning after a week-and-a-half long fight to get home from Honduras.
After a layover in Houston, LaRoque said hello to an awaiting crowd at RDU just after midnight.
Following a week and a half in a Honduran prison, LaRoque received her passport Wednesday and took no time in coming home.
"I'm looking forward to just chilling out .. putting this behind me," she said.
LaRoque added that she almost didn't make it back, because when her attorney went to the DA's office to get her passport, the office didn't want to release it until 4 p.m.
LaRoque said it was because the DA was working on an appeal and wanted to hold her while that happened, but her lawyer was diligent, getting the much needed passport to her so she could get home.
The appeals the DA's office in Honduras are attempting to get are exactly why LaRoque says the whole thing isn't completely over.
LaRoque was in Honduras on a house-hunting vacation but had been stuck there since July 30.
She was arrested while trying to board a flight home. She was stopped when airport security became suspicious of a so-called "can safe." The device was a fake Arizona Iced Tea can that was actually a personal safe for hiding valuables.
The safe had a white material in its lining that police suspected was cocaine and they detained LaRoque on drug charges while it was sent off for testing.
After the test came back negative for cocaine, charges against LaRoque were dropped at a hearing on Friday. But she still couldn't leave because the local prosecutor went on vacation and filed an appeal of the dismissal.
LaRoque was supposed to go to Nicaragua on Sunday, but that trip is cancelled, telling ABC11 that she won't be traveling for a while at RDU.
She said she is thankful for all the coverage on her story and said she believes that helped to get her home. She is also thankful for all the support she's received since this entire ordeal began. There has been an outpouring of support for her on social media.
Back in Cary, her mother, Barbara Levy, said Wednesday she was thrilled her daughter was returning home.
"I haven't slept more than three or four hours a night, if even that, and the phone doesn't stop ringing, I mean, I'm exhausted," Levy said. "Once they get home tonight, I think I will spend the entire day tomorrow sleeping; I'm turning off all the phones."
