• 20
  • January
    2012

Imagine your child vanishing one day, beyond your reach and beyond the reach of the law itself. Ohio parents, and indeed parents all across the nation, may be holding their little ones closer in the wake of news that an American man is accusing his wife of using a false "vacation to Russia" plan as a ruse to kidnap their daughter.

The two-year-old girl had the ability to visit her father after the couple separated and the dad moved out of the house. The couple had a steady custody and visitation arrangement until the maternal grandmother contacted the father to let him know that the mother and child had left the country. The man was devastated and realized the whole trip was a scam after finding their house vacant, the closets empty and his daughter missing.

The father has only been able to communicate indirectly with his ex-wife and his daughter. He has his daughter's favorite stuffed animal and misses their weekly visits.

The father has joint legal custody rights here in the U.S. and is frantically asking U.S. authorities to attempt to force Russia to recognize these rights. Although the U.S. embassy has been in contact with the mother, she claims to have lost important passport paperwork and says the airport will not honor their return tickets. The father sees these excuses as lies and attempts to avoid the authority of the family law court. The only remaining options involve diplomatic arrangements through the use of treaties that would honor custody arrangements.

While admirable, the father's efforts to force Russia to apply U.S. state court orders may be very difficult. The mother in this case has all but escaped beyond the reach of U.S. law and, unless a diplomatic solution can be reached, she remains untouchable by U.S. family law courts.

Source: ABC Action News, "Custody dispute spans from Pa. to Russia," David Henry, Jan. 13, 2012