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May 14, 2007
Missing Children Success Stories
Topics: GeneralBaby Abducted Across Borders; NCMEC's Website Leads to Recovery
In September 2005, NCMEC was notified that an 18-month-old boy was abducted by his father from Ukraine to Florida. The father had recently lost custody of the child, which drove him to flee the country with his son. While in Florida, the father was alerted that Florida law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals were looking for him, so he fled again—this time taking the child from Florida to Honduras.
Alert Honduran neighbors reported the father to local authorities after observing odd behavior. An investigation by Honduran authorities led to identifying the little boy from a missing-child poster on NCMEC’s website, www.missingkids.com. Honduran authorities notified NCMEC of the boy’s location.
NCMEC's International Missing Children's Division immediately contacted its FBI Liaison when it became clear that Honduran officials were unable to authorize extradition of the father back to the U.S. Through the help of a federal prosecutor and judge, the FBI obtained an International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act warrant for the father within a few hours. After the U.S. warrant was issued, Honduran authorities agreed to the deportation.
NCMEC’s Family Advocacy Division worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crimes to provide travel assistance to the child’s mother, who came from Ukraine to Florida to be reunited with her son. NCMEC also coordinated with local social services and a FBI Victims Specialist to ensure someone was waiting at the airport to help facilitate the separation of the child from his father and reunification with his mother.
Over a year after he was taken, the boy was reunited with his mother. He celebrated his third birthday with his mother just days after his recovery. His father pled guilty and received a two-year sentence for international abduction.
Phone Calls Provide Clues to 12-Year-Old's Location
In December 2005, a searching mother called 1-800-THE-LOST to report her 12-year-old daughter missing. The mother informed NCMEC that it was possible the girl could be traveling with an adult male in a stolen vehicle.
NCMEC reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to discuss the situation. NCMEC posters with the missing child’s photograph were also created and distributed to targeted areas of Las Vegas and surrounding areas.
In December 2006, the girl, a native Spanish-speaker, e-mailed NCMEC after seeing her poster on NCMEC’s website, www.missingkids.com. Although the e-mail address could not be traced, a Spanish-speaking assistant case manager in NCMEC’s National Missing Children’s Division used this opportunity to open the lines of communication with the child by providing her phone number and e-mail address. It worked! The child called the assistant case manager a few days later from a blocked phone number and provided information about her situation. The child denied being with the reported companion.
Several days after the initial contact, the child called the case manager again but neglected to block the phone number. A search by NCMEC’s Case Analysis and Support Division yielded a possible address in Indiana. This information was forwarded to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police also notified the Bloomington Police Department in Indiana, which was able to confirm the address as that of the suspected companion.
On February 8, 2007, law enforcement safely recovered the child at the home of the companion.
Copyright© 2007 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. All rights reserved.
Posted by admin at May 14, 2007 9:43 PM
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