Miss Vietnam 2002, who had sparked a national crisis after she was reported missing, has emerged from hiding to let everybody know she's well and is just running away from home, say police in the northern Vietnamese port city of Haiphong.

Pham Thi Mai Phuong, 17, smiles for the press as she stands with her grandmother(L) and her mother after being crowned 'Miss Vietnam' 2002 in Ho Chi Minh City in this Sept. 22, 2002 file photo. The family of Vietnam's reigning beauty queen, who disappeared a week ago, said Tuesday they believe she was kidnapped by her boyfriend who was upset that she was moving to Britain to study. [AP]

Pham Thi Mai Phuong, 18, was reported missing by her parents on Tuesday after she had not come home for a week and witnesses reported seeing her bundled into a van.

Police said the teenager had run away to another town with her girlfriends after a dispute with her parents over their decision to send her to England for school.

"She showed up yesterday unscathed," before running away again with friends, said a policewoman in Ngo Quyen District in Haiphong city. "She said her parents pressured her to go but she prefers staying in Vietnam," the policewoman said.

Phuong had recently been awarded a scholarship to study business management at Luton University in England.

The high school senior was catapulted to fame when she won the reinstated national beauty contest last year. She represented Vietnam at the Miss World contest that was originally held in Nigeria but was moved to London due to protests.

Phuong's family could not be reached for comment.

Close

Today's Top News		Top International News
+Commentary: Don't meddle with yuan ( 2003-09-02) +200,000 troops to be cut by 2005 ( 2003-09-02) +Beijing Games marketing plan launched ( 2003-09-02) +Flood forces 10,0000 to evacuate ( 2003-09-02) +Beijing courts announce 50 major changes ( 2003-09-02)		+Medical Marijuana sold in the Netherlands ( 2003-09-02) +Hamas militant killed in Israeli attack ( 2003-09-02) +'Saddam' tape urges attacks on Iraq's occupiers ( 2003-09-02) +Police charge 3 in two India bombings ( 2003-09-01) +Myanmar denies opposition leader staging hunger strike ( 2003-09-01)