LITCHFIELD — Rebecca May Barry’s mother says she has had little contact with her daughter in recent years.

Barry is married to Pir Khan, one of three Pakistani men who were arrested on suspected immigration violations during the investigation of a failed car bombing May 1 in New York City.

Khan, whose occupation was most recently listed as taxi driver, and his roommate, Aftab Khan, were arrested May 13 in Watertown, Mass., the same day Mohammad Shafiq Rahman was arrested in South Portland.

Published reports indicate that all three men married American women, and that authorities apparently are checking to determine whether the marriages are shams, meant only to allow the men to remain in the United States legally.

Pir Khan, 43, married Barry, 24, in Watertown in November 2008.

Barry’s mother, Roseanna Bryce, said Tuesday that she didn’t attend the wedding and wasn’t aware that her daughter was dating Khan.

Bryce said she saw her daughter briefly about three months ago.

Before that, she last saw her daughter during the holidays in December 2008 – when “Becky” showed her the wedding photos.
“I didn’t know she was getting married until she showed me the pictures,” Bryce said.

“She’s a big girl. She can do what she wants to do. Obviously, she didn’t want me to know about it from the beginning, and I’m not going to pry.”

Bryce said she saw Khan once, briefly, at Bryce’s younger daughter’s home in Auburn. He was leaving as Bryce was arriving. They did not speak, Bryce said.

In July, Barry was involved in a crash in Lewiston while driving a vehicle registered to Khan.

Barry grew up in Lewiston and was 12 when she moved to Litchfield with her mother, to an area where the unpaved lanes in trailer parks are named for U.S. presidents: Bush, Kennedy, Reagan, Ford and Clinton.

She attended Carrie Ricker Middle School and went on to Oak Hill High School, where she went into the alternative education program, according to her mother.

Bryce said her daughter came very close to graduating, needing only a credit or so to earn a diploma.

Barry left her mother’s home when she was 18 and has moved frequently since then, Bryce said. Bryce said her daughter owns property or is buying property in western Maine, probably in Oxford or Norway.

“She was a good girl growing up,” Bryce said. “Do I picture her in something like this? No. How was she to know something like this would happen? I can’t imagine her marrying somebody for what they’re saying.”

News reports posted on Boston.com said Barry attended an Immigration Court hearing Tuesday for Khan and left in tears.