RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 17 (UPI) — A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered the passports of U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen be seized in relation to their robbery report.
Lochte and Feigen — along with Olympians Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger — said they were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday after leaving a party. Brazilian media have since reported that investigators have found no evidence the robbery occurred.
Lochte, the only one of the swimmers to publicly speak of the alleged incident, had already left Brazil before Judge Keyla Blanc de Cnop issued the passport seizure order. Feigen’s whereabouts are unclear.
“You can see the supposed victims arriving without signs of being physically or psychologically shaken, even joking amongst themselves,” the judge said in a statement, in reference to a video of the swimmers returning to the Olympic Village after the party.
U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said Brazilian police began searching for Lochte and Feigen early Wednesday but could not locate the pair at the Olympic Village.
“The swim team moved out of the village after their competition ended, so we were not able to make the athletes available,” Sandusky said. “Additionally, as part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore cannot confirm the athletes’ current location.”
The judge said Lochte and Feigen gave contradictory accounts of the robbery. Lochte told police there was one robber while Feigen said there were multiple and one with a gun, court documents show.
