Kansas City native Matt Novak loves his job as an elementary teacher school in Cairo, Egypt. He has been teaching overseas for several years, and has enjoyed traveling the world.
His passion for international travel has now left his family fearing for his safety. Last Saturday as he was traveling through the United Arab Emirates, he was arrested.
"I had a panic attack, I had to get up and leave," said Novak’s mother, Carolyn Novak.
Matt Novak messaged the family via Facebook to let them know he had been arrested. His family says someone stole is passport in 2010, stealing his identity.
"We both know that he's innocent and we both want to get things resolved because we know the longer he is over there, the harder it is going to be to get him home," said his father, Al Novak.
The family says the U.S. embassy is helping, along with Missouri lawmakers Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Roy Blunt and Rep. Sam Graves.
The Novaks say their biggest fear is that Matt Novak never makes it home.
"I've gone from being really scared, we will never see him again, that he will get lost in the prison system over there, to, I mean, that is probably my biggest fear," said Carolyn Novak.
The family has started a page for donations, which you can find here.
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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com.
