US 'cowboy' lured by love to Cape Town takes a tumble

He arrived at the airport in a cowboy hat and a shirt emblazoned with the words “Big Daddy”‚ hoping to get married.

Michael Morgan had just flown 12,700km from the US to Cape Town International Airport to meet divorced nurse Caryl Jones. What he got instead was a kick in the teeth.

“I had fallen in love with her through our letters and messages. She was very attractive and possessed physical features that are especially desirable to me: dark eyes‚ raven hair‚ and olive skin! She was very articulate and wrote with good grammar‚ similar to me‚” said the retired 67-year-old.

In his quest for companionship on the internet he had fallen – hook‚ line and sinker.

Speaking from his home in North Carolina by email on Wednesday‚ he described events leading up to his arrival in South Africa and his bitter disappointment when the penny finally dropped. Caryl Jones probably does not exist.

The two “met” online in January after he placed a personal advert seeking companionship on the Craigslist advertisements website. Morgan‚ who has been divorced three times‚ regarded her positive response as “a good sign for the new year”.

In retrospect‚ he noticed that her response came via Seattle on the west coast of the US‚ a red flag that he initially “overlooked”. As the conversations continued‚ he became more intrigued with the 53-year-old nurse who described working in an exchange program at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town.

“She said after divorcing her husband after her father’s death‚ she put herself through nursing school in Seattle‚ Washington.” Jones failed to arrive in the US for their first planned meeting in early February. “She wrote and said she was delayed in customs for possessing diamonds that she had received from her father as a wedding gift.”

It was then that she raised the issue of money‚ saying she needed some to obtain a certificate for the diamonds. “I had previously told her I would not send money to anyone I had met on the internet. “

A few days after that I told her that I would get a loan and bring the money with me to South Africa and give it to her if I determined she was who she said she was. And we tentatively planned to marry and travel back together. We even spoke of taking a cruise back to America and having the ship's captain perform the marriage.”

He decided to fly to Cape Town. “I was lonely and was seeking a companion‚” he said‚ adding that their telephone call connections were “terrible and static-filled”.

“I was disappointed when she wasn’t at the arrival gate at the airport. There were people with signs with names on them‚ waiting for people‚ but no one that looked like her‚ and I was studying everyone’s face! I told her I would be wearing a white cowboy hat‚ and a bright yellow t-shirt with ‘Big Daddy’ in red letters‚” he said.

He checked into a hotel and in a telephone call Caryl apologised for missing him at the airport. The next day‚ he travelled to her address in Vredehoek but “but there was no house addressed 21.”

He visited Groote Schuur hospital and discovered there was no exchange nursing programme or staff nurse called Caryl Jones. After many rejected telephone calls and text messages he finally gave up.

“In her last text she said she felt like a fool … and that she would always love me‚” he said. “I truly thought she was who she said she was‚ otherwise I wouldn’t have made the trip‚” he said when asked if he believed she was a real person.

He stayed in Cape Town for a week and said the trip cost him about $2,500 (about R30,000).

“The worst thing about Cape Town is too many beautiful women in all shapes‚ sizes‚ colours‚ and cultures! And most of them walking around in short-shorts‚ tight-tights‚ miniskirts‚ etc! It’s a girl watcher’s paradise‚” he quipped.

Asked if the experience had put him off internet dating‚ he replied: “No‚ but I’ll be a lot more cautious‚ and I probably won’t pursue anyone overseas. I’m a shy person who doesn’t go to church‚ or hang out in bars and clubs‚ or initiate conversations with strangers‚ so I’ve tried meeting people through personal ads and dating sites.”