Girl's Claim of Forced Marriage in Pakistan Probed

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Authorities are investigating a California girl's claim that her family tried to force her into an arranged marriage in Pakistan, prompting the 13-year-old to run away from home and hide in a nearby motel.

Jesse Marie Bender disappeared from her Southern California home Feb. 22. Local and federal authorities launched a nationwide search for the child after her mother, Melissa Bender, said she thought her daughter was kidnapped by someone she met on Facebook.

But the family's account fell flat when police found the girl early Wednesday hiding at the Black Horse Motel in Apple Valley, Calif.

Jesse Bender, who was found unharmed and in the company of her biological uncle, told police she ran away to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.

Roxanne Walker, a spokeswoman with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, told FoxNews.com that the teen lived in Hesperia, Calif., with her biological mother and stepfather, Mohammad Khan, a Pakistani native, but Walker said there were conflicting reports on whether Melissa Bender and Khan were legally married.

Walker said the girl was first reported as a juvenile runaway. She said the girl's mother told police that her daughter was upset about having to go on a two-month vacation to Pakistan. Melissa Bender then changed her story, Walker said, when she told authorities that Jesse may have been taken by a man she met on Facebook.

"She