HEBRON — The 16-year-old African teen-ager repatriating to the United States bought a bus ticket to New York City instead of catching his flight in Northern Kentucky to be reunited with his mother in Memphis, Tenn.

        Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport police received 13 calls in response to reports last week of the missing teen. One, from a cabdriver, confirmed that Oumar Nkeng — who had been living in Cameroon and treated as a slave — had been dropped off at the downtown Cincinnati Greyhound bus station Dec. 18, according to airport officials.

Oumar Nkeng

        The cabdriver described Oumar as dressed warmly and seeming unconcerned about missing his flight, according to airport police. They said Oumar, who speaks limited English and French, talked about “going to school and playing soccer.”

        Greyhound employees remember selling Oumar a ticket to New York City. The ticket was purchased under the name Lavell. Security camera tapes captured Oumar changing buses at the Columbus bus station, but police have been unable to reach the bus driver to confirm that the teen made it to New York.

        A Greyhound spokeswoman in Cincinnati said the bus company had given police all the information they had on Oumar.

        Airport police, the lead investigators on the case, have contacted police in the cities where the bus stopped hoping for more clues to Oumar's whereabouts.

        The stops include: Ohio cities of Zanesville, Cambridge and Steubenville; West Virginia cities of Wheeling and Weirton; Pennsylvania cities of Pittsburgh, Monroeville, Harrisburg, King of Prussia and Philadelphia; and Newark, N.J.

        None of the other Northern Kentucky tips checked out, said airport police Chief Chuck Mellville.

        Those tips included one person who assumed they saw Oumar in Cincinnati after hearing a black teen-ager speaking a foreign language.

        Port Authority police in New York did not return phone calls.

        “We have discussed it and cannot come up with a reason why he decided to go to New York,” said airport spokesman Ted Bushelman.

        Oumar, an American citizen born in the United States, was kidnapped by his father and taken to Cameroon about 10 years ago, according to Oumar's family in the United States.

        Oumar became a slave for another family after his father died about three years ago. With the help of missionaries, Oumar escaped and sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy two months ago. The State Department arranged for Oumar to be reunited with his mother, buying him a plane ticket home.

        Oumar is described as 5-feet-8, 120 pounds. He speaks limited English, and was last seen wearing a red parka and dark jeans.

        His full name is Oumar (sometimes Omar) Larvell Jamisco Mohammed Kanu Nkeng.

       Airport police request that anyone with information about the missing teen-ager call (859) 767-3123.

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