Detained English Teacher Finally Returns Home
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The former director of the now defunct Rexburg-based English teaching program finally returned to the United States after being imprisoned in China for more than two and a half years.
Alyssa Petersen was greeted with hugs and tears by her parents and other family members at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday afternoon local time, Alyssa Petersen was greeted with hugs and tears from her parents and other family members at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
“It was kind of surreal until we finally saw her at the airport. Then it was finally real,” Alyssa’s dad, Clark Petersen said.
“We had the whole family there. It was a neat family reunion.”
In September 2019, Jiangsu provincial police arrested Alyssa, who was serving as a director of China horizons. She and her boss, Jacob Harlan, the company's owner and founder, were accused of illegally moving people across the border.
The company arranges college students to visit China and teach English to students.

▲Jacob Harlan and Alyssa Petersen were arrested in 2019. Harlan remains detained in China.
The case attracted the attention of members of the US Congress-Executive Commission on China, which wrote a letter to President Donald Trump in january2020.
Friends and family members posted updates on a GoFundMe page, which raised over $50,000 to help cover legal fees.
Friends and family posted latest news on the case on a Gofundme page, which raised more than $50,000 to pay legal fees.
Alyssa's trial was held in May last year, where her father says she was found not guilty but she remained in jail for the next 12 months.
“We’ve been able to send letters, and sometimes she was able to get them depending on whether the consulate was able to visit with her. If the consulate was able to visit, she could communicate through them to us, but the last year and a half has been few and far between,” Clark tells reporters.

▲Alyssa Petersen returned home after more than two years.
Peterson did not elaborate on what his daughter endured during her custody, but said he and his wife had never spoken to their daughter on the phone. Their friends in China helped them to keep abreast of her situation.
Earlier this month, Alyssa was sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years in jail with credit for time served and a release date of May 23. On Sunday, she was taken to an airport in China, where she called her parents.
Earlier this month, Alyssa was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment and was released on May 23, this is because she had already served the time while waiting for her sentence. On Sunday, she was escorted to an airport where she phoned her parents.
“They let her call to say she was on her way home. It was a 13-hour flight to Los Angeles and then she had a three-hour flight to get home to St. Louis,” Clark says.
“She is resting, is glad to be home, and looks forward to eating food instead of rice. As she said, hell is finally over.”
Haran is still in China, and the future of the case is still uncertain, but his wife said on a Gofundme page that she hopes he would be released as soon as possible.
Alyssa's family told reporters that she is now trying to process the whole situation before discussing it in public.
She thanked all those who helped her during her difficulties:
“I would like them to know that their support has been felt. It helped me survive,” she said. “There are other people who are still experiencing what I went through, and they need the same support, help and love.”
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