Father relieved as missing Marine
surrenders to authorities at Camp Kinser
By David Allen, Okinawa
bureau chief
CAMP FOSTER — Less than 24 hours before Marine Pfc. Jodi Jarboe, 18, could be
declared a deserter, she surrendered to authorities on Camp Kinser on Tuesday.
"She looked good, healthy, and that’s all I really needed to know," her
father, Larry Jarboe, said Wednesday morning. "She came in just under the wire."
Larry Jarboe, 48, of St. Mary’s County, Md., spent three weeks bicycling around
Okinawa looking for his daughter, who failed to report for work on Camp Hansen on April
23.
"I don’t know if she came in because she saw that story about her in Stars
and Stripes [Tuesday] or because she’d been planning to surrender all along," he
said.
Jarboe met with his daughter for 15 minutes at the Joint Forces Brig on Camp Hansen.
"Yesterday was for hugs and unconditional love," he said. "We can sort out
the rest later."
She told her father that she went on unauthorized absence status voluntarily, spending
the time with friends, working odd jobs, snorkeling and thinking about the her future.
"She doesn’t want to be a Marine anymore, she did say that," Jarboe
said. "But we didn’t go into any details. She has some issues she and the
Marines are going to have to work out. But she did turn herself in, that’s to her
credit.
"All I know is I got a call yesterday that she came back. It was the happiest day
of my life — you know, her birth was one thing, but having her come back when I had
no idea where or how she was, this is even better."
Marine officials released few details regarding Jodi Jarboe’s absence. Because she
was not gone long enough to be considered a deserter, the case probably will be handled on
a company level, a spokesman said.
"She’s resigned to what’s going to happen to her," Larry Jarboe
added. "She didn’t show a lot of emotion yesterday. She realizes she’s got
something pretty heavy to deal with."
Jarboe said he was surprised at the outpouring of support he received from the American
military community after a story about his daughter’s disappearance ran in Stars and
Stripes.
"This has touched a lot of people," he said. "I was getting calls all
day after the story came out. I was stunned at the amount of support out there."
Jarboe, who’s been searching the island for his daughter since May 2, isn’t
going home right away.
"I’m dedicating the next two weeks to see her as much as permitted and to see
the island," he said. "I’m going to take a vacation."
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