The first blow came with the senseless death of their teen daughter.
Then came the news that her accused killer, a young man from Saudi Arabia, had vanished before trial.
Now the parents of Fallon Smart are coming to grips with the fact that his government likely helped him escape — and possibly other Saudis suspected of serious crimes throughout Oregon and elsewhere.
“It’s like the laws of physics go out the door,” said Fallon’s mother, Fawn Lengvenis, on Thursday. “And it all starts from the beginning again.”
Fallon’s father, Seth Smart, seated next to her, fought back tears.
“The imagination runs wild,” he said during an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. “Is he just leading his normal life somewhere? Does he even think about it? Does he even care?
“Our families are forever changed,” he said about himself and Lengvenis. The couple divorced when Fallon was young. Both have since remarried.
In August 2016, weeks before her 16th birthday, Fallon was killed by a speeding driver while she legally crossed Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard.
The suspect, Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, was jailed and charged with first-degree manslaughter and felony hit-and-run. After his arrest, the Saudi consulate retained private defense attorneys to work on his case and cut a $100,000 check to provide him bail.
Federal law enforcement now believe the Saudi government orchestrated Noorah’s remarkable escape in June 2017. They say the Saudis furnished the young man, who studied at Portland Community College, with an illicit passport and possibly a private plane.
The Oregonian/OregonLive has since discovered similar cases in Oregon and across the country, including one in Ohio in 1988 that suggests the practice has been going on for decades.
The cases have generated international headlines, and Oregon’s U.S. senators are seeking answers on Capitol Hill.
In their first interview since her death, Fallon’s parents grieved the loss of the daughter they described as gentle and generous. They also grappled with how their family’s personal tragedy carried political implications between the U.S. and a longstanding ally in the Middle East.
“It almost feels like you’re reading the plot of an intrigue novel,” said Lengvenis, who lives in Southeast Portland. “It’s hard to believe that it’s part of your reality.”
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Noorah’s criminal case, meanwhile, slowly proceed through court.
Fallon’s parents were surprised — and concerned — when the young Saudi student posted bail, which was set at $1 million, and was released from jail. He was placed under house arrest while his trial approached but was allowed to take classes at PCC .
“I just had this faith that the legal system would operate in the way I thought it would have,” Lengvenis said.
Then Noorah, who was 21, vanished. The families were devastated anew.
It was only after his disappearance that the parents learned the Saudi government had posted the $100,000 required for Noorah’s release.
Eighteen months later, they learned through a story published in The Oregonian/OregonLive about the kingdom’s suspected role in Noorah’s escape.
Fahad Nazer, a spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C., has previously said that, as a policy, the Saudi government will cover the cost of bail for any citizen jailed in the U.S. who asks for assistance.
Nazer said the Saudi government did not provide any travel documents to Noorah, who federal law enforcement says returned to Saudi Arabia, before he fled the U.S.
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