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Tamara Broome, 31, from Adelaide, has spent the past three nights behind bars at the Pitt County Detention Centre in Greenville, charged with one count of abduction of children.
She is being held on a $A2.4 million bond and faces more than two years in a US jail if found guilty.
The unemployed Australian began an intense internet relationship more than a year ago with a boy, 17, from Greenville, North Carolina.
Their relationship began when he was 16 with emailing and they played the medieval-type online role-playing game World of Warcraft.
Romance apparently blossomed and the pair even discussed marriage.
Broome flew from Adelaide to the US to be with the teenager last week.
Under North Carolina law, an underage minor is 17 or younger.
Pitt County Sheriff's Office chief of detectives Lee Moore said Broome had been arrested on Tuesday at the Rocky Mount train station.
Three detectives and a US postal service officer dramatically apprehended her.
"She had one foot on the platform and the other one was still on the train, it was that quick," Chief Moore said.
The Sheriff's Office is scouring Broome's laptop after gaining a search warrant.
Detectives began their investigations into Broome after receiving a missing persons report from the teenager's parents on June 12.
He had left home and was apparently intending to travel to Australia to meet Broome.
Detectives found the teenager the same day at the international airport in the state capital of Raleigh. He was returned to his parents.
The teenager's parents, contacted through the Sheriff's Office, declined to comment.
"We're sure he was going to Australia – that's where he was headed," Chief Moore said.
"He didn't have a lot to say and he still doesn't.
"Through our investigation with the assistance of US Customs, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Postal Inspection Service we started looking into (Broome). It was discovered through these people that she was going to come here."
Detectives, who did not contact Australian law enforcement officials, tracked down a picture of Broome and her itinerary to the US.
She flew to New York and took the train to Rocky Mount.
"So that's where we were waiting for her," Chief Moore said.
Broome was charged and appeared briefly in the Pitt County District Court where her bond was set. She is due to face court again this month.
Tamara Broome, 31, from Adelaide, has spent the past three nights behind bars at the Pitt County Detention Centre in Greenville, charged with one count of abduction of children.
She is being held on a $A2.4 million bond and faces more than two years in a US jail if found guilty.
The unemployed Australian began an intense internet relationship more than a year ago with a boy, 17, from Greenville, North Carolina.
Their relationship began when he was 16 with emailing and they played the medieval-type online role-playing game World of Warcraft.
Romance apparently blossomed and the pair even discussed marriage.
Broome flew from Adelaide to the US to be with the teenager last week.
Under North Carolina law, an underage minor is 17 or younger.
Pitt County Sheriff's Office chief of detectives Lee Moore said Broome had been arrested on Tuesday at the Rocky Mount train station.
Three detectives and a US postal service officer dramatically apprehended her.
"She had one foot on the platform and the other one was still on the train, it was that quick," Chief Moore said.
The Sheriff's Office is scouring Broome's laptop after gaining a search warrant.
Detectives began their investigations into Broome after receiving a missing persons report from the teenager's parents on June 12.
He had left home and was apparently intending to travel to Australia to meet Broome.
Detectives found the teenager the same day at the international airport in the state capital of Raleigh. He was returned to his parents.
The teenager's parents, contacted through the Sheriff's Office, declined to comment.
"We're sure he was going to Australia – that's where he was headed," Chief Moore said.
"He didn't have a lot to say and he still doesn't.
"Through our investigation with the assistance of US Customs, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Postal Inspection Service we started looking into (Broome). It was discovered through these people that she was going to come here."
Detectives, who did not contact Australian law enforcement officials, tracked down a picture of Broome and her itinerary to the US.
She flew to New York and took the train to Rocky Mount.
"So that's where we were waiting for her," Chief Moore said.
Broome was charged and appeared briefly in the Pitt County District Court where her bond was set. She is due to face court again this month.
Stefanie Balogh in New York
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