Thread: Crime Suspect Was Harried About Job & Deportation

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonia ... xml&coll=7

Suspect was harried about job, being deported

Pressure - The Bulgaria native accused of threatening flight passengers had wanted to stay in the U.S., her uncle says
Saturday, January 14, 2006
AMY HSUAN
and SOPHIA TAREEN

The University of Oregon graduate student and former Pacific University assistant professor accused of disrupting a United Express flight was distressed about finding a job and being deported to her native Bulgaria, her uncle said Friday.

Bogdana Georgieva, 35, faces a federal charge of interfering with the crew of a flight that left Eugene bound for Denver on Wednesday. She is accused of threatening passengers and talking about a bomb. The pilot landed the plane in Salt Lake City, where Georgieva remains in a hospital neurological unit.

Georgieva's uncle, Theodore Bodurov, with whom she lives in Eugene, said the hard-working graduate student had been under mounting pressure.

"There were a lot of signs of stress that started to appear," Bodurov said. "But, we didn't do anything about it because she would have feelings of stress and after a short time they would go away."

Georgieva, who is working toward a master's degree in physics at the University of Oregon, holds a doctorate in mathematics from Oregon State University. According to her Web site, she also has a master's degree from the University of Oregon and a bachelor's degree from Lewis & Clark College.

Between August 2001 and May 2005, Georgieva taught math as an assistant professor at Pacific University, said Linda Saari, the school's spokeswoman. Georgieva was on track for tenure and in 2002 received the university's Cora Kempter Meyer faculty award.

Bodurov said Georgieva's Pacific University teaching contract was not renewed when it expired in May. School officials declined to say why Georgieva was let go.

She sold her Forest Grove home in May. And Bodurov said Georgieva was forced to return to Bulgaria after failing to land a permanent job.

"She was saying that over there, she felt more foreign than in the United States," Bodurov said. "She had been here for more than 10 years."

Charles McAvoy, a former Forest Grove neighbor, described Georgieva as friendly but introverted.

"They were not overtly social or gregarious," he said of Georgieva and her uncle. "They were Spartan and frugal. . . . They stayed in the house and read a lot."

Bodurov said Georgieva enrolled in the University of Oregon physics program last fall as a way to stay in the United States. But the subject was relatively unfamiliar to her, and she struggled with the graduate-level work.

"That also created a lot of stress for her," Bodurov said. "As well as the whole uncertainty of whether or not she could find a job after."

Georgieva boarded United Express Flight 6664 Wednesday morning. Her final destination was a mathematics conference in San Antonio, where she hoped to meet potential employers.

Court documents said Georgieva was agitated and took a bottle of water from a female passenger sitting next her. Georgieva then is accused of throwing the woman into the aisle after the passenger requested a seat change.

Court records say Georgieva than began yelling that she had a baby named Jesus, and that her uncle had impregnated her and that "President Bush was behind it all."

Charles McAvoy, a former Forest Grove neighbor, described Georgieva as friendly but introverted.

"They were not overtly social or gregarious," he said of Georgieva and her uncle. "They were Spartan and frugal. . . . They stayed in the house and read a lot."

Bodurov said Georgieva enrolled in the University of Oregon physics program last fall as a way to stay in the United States. But the subject was relatively unfamiliar to her, and she struggled with the graduate-level work.

"That also created a lot of stress for her," Bodurov said. "As well as the whole uncertainty of whether or not she could find a job after."

After the plane landed in Salt Lake City, Georgieva tried to run from police and said there was a bomb on the aircraft, court documents say.

Airport police found no bomb.

On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kennedy asked a judge in Salt Lake City to order Georgieva's release into government custody once she is discharged from the hospital.

Bodurov said he spoke to his niece Friday morning and that she sounded in good condition.

"She definitely wants to come home, but it's not up to her," he said. "Apparently, the doctors are not convinced she's completely fine."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Amy Hsuan: 503-294-5954; amyhsuan@news.oregonian.com Sophia Tareen: 503-294-5956; sophiatareen@news.oregonian.com

Just Good Folks!

Quote:
Court records say Georgieva than began yelling that she had a baby named Jesus, and that her uncle had impregnated her and that "President Bush was behind it all."


He is behind it all!!!!