Runaway teenage sailor Laura Dekker will face questions from Dutch police and social services after her 5,000-mile trek to a Caribbean island.

Laura, 14, ran away after her dream of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world was shattered.

Two days after she was reported missing, police managed to track her down on the island of St Maarten.

Police and child care authorities now want to know exactly how Laura got there and why she fled, as a family spokeswoman speculated that she was overcome by the pressure of a court battle over the sailing attempt.

St Maarten police spokesman Ricardo Henson said Laura arrived on the island on Thursday from Paris. She flew out on Monday dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and carrying several bags, a small suitcase and a guitar.

It remained unclear if she had any plans to use the island, half of which is part of the Netherlands Antilles, as a start point for a sailing voyage.

Laura made international headlines in August when a court temporarily blocked her bid to set sail alone around the world in her 26ft yacht Guppy.

If Laura were to get permission to set off on the voyage and successfully complete it, she would break a record set this year by 17-year-old Briton Mike Perham, who sailed 28,000 miles around the world in nine months.

A 16-year-old Australian girl, Jessica Watson, is currently trying to beat that record.

Utrecht District Court ruled in October that Laura was too inexperienced for the marathon voyage.