A 24‑year‑old Jordanian soccer player, Rabe'e Ata Juma'a Alqaq, vanished during the opening day of the Genuine Cup, a tournament held on Rice University’s practice fields in Houston that brings together athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities from around the world.
Rice University Police Department issued a missing‑person alert on Monday after teammates reported that Alqaq had left the athletes’ quarters around midnight, telling friends he intended to take a walk on campus and never returned.
A safe return
After a full‑scale search, officers located Alqaq in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, on Tuesday. He had boarded a bus of his own volition, traveling from Houston to the Chicago area without informing anyone of his plans.
Alqaq later contacted campus police after seeing news coverage of his own disappearance, confirming that he was unharmed and that no foul play was suspected. Authorities in Illinois, the Jordanian consulate in Texas, and his home team are now coordinating his safe return to Houston.
The Genuine Cup, now in its third year, features more than a thousand participants from 51 countries and aims to raise visibility for neurodiverse young adults. Organizers say the event will continue to grow, with the next edition scheduled to conclude this Saturday.