Parents who are left behind face skepticism, but family abductions are more common than those committed by strangers and can be just as dangerous for kids.
Kidnapped boy found 7 years later
After seven years, Abdul Aziz Khan will soon reunite with his dad. He was reportedly abducted by his noncustodial mother when he was 7-years-old.
- Advocates say there needs to be more awareness of the dangers of parental abductions and a cultural shift in how people think about them.
- Parental abductions are more common than stranger abductions and can be just as dangerous for children.
On June 12, Chase Desormeaux kissed his two young children goodbye, told them he loved them and said he would see them as soon as they got back from vacation with their mother.
He hasn’t seen or heard from them since.
Desormeaux said his ex-wife was supposed to return 7-year-old Cohen and 5-year-old Colton to him in Louisiana after a soccer tournament in Texas. Instead, she cut contact and absconded with the boys, Desormeaux said.
Their story was featured on the television show On Patrol: Live and shared on social media by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and though the attention could lead to a break in the case, Desormeaux said he fears his ex-wife could become a danger to his children as the exposure grows. He’s starting to feel like he’s exhausted all his options.
“I’m holding on by a thread, to be honest, emotionally and mentally,” Desormeaux told USA TODAY.
Kids illegally taken by one of their parents years and even decades ago were found by law enforcement this month in Colorado and Mexico. Many others are still missing.
Advocacy organizations and programs like Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries have helped parents reconnect with long-missing children, but that level of attention can be hard to come by for family abductions. The parents who are left behind often face skepticism about the severity of these cases, which can sometimes take years of searching, the work of multiple law enforcement agencies and protracted legal battles to resolve.
Experts say parental kidnappings are significantly more common than those committed by strangers, and living the life of a fugitive can have long-term or even life-threatening consequences for kids.
“They’re not necessarily safe because they’re with a parent…” said Angeline Hartmann, communications director at the center for missing children. “You’re talking about kids who may not have seen a doctor, be allowed to play outside, may never see sunlight.”
As weeks of radio silence turned into months for Desormeaux, the panicked father secured a court order mandating his sons be returned to him and a warrant for his ex-wife’s arrest was issued in November. But the search continues. Attempts to reach Desormeaux’s ex-wife by USA TODAY were unsuccessful.
Family abductions more common, just as dangerous
Nearly 1,200 cases of missing children reported to the center for missing children in 2023 were family abductions. Kidnappings by strangers accounted for far fewer − about 290 cases.
The vast majority of children wrongfully taken by relatives were recovered alive, the center found in a 2018 report, but abducted kids still face grievous risk. Custody disputes can be particularly dangerous.
Over 940 children have been killed by a divorcing or separating parent or another parental figure since 2008, and more than 14% of those deaths were preventable, according to a 2023 report from the Center for Judicial Excellence. Family courts involved in these kinds of cases often miss warning signs and put children at risk by prioritizing parental visitation even where there is evidence of abuse, advocates previously told USA TODAY.
Hartmann said there needs to be more awareness of the dangers of parental abductions and “a cultural shift in how people think and what people know regarding these cases.”
“It’s an uphill battle,” she said.
Abductions can years to solve. Media, police and the public can help
A little more than a third of children abducted by family members were found thanks to police work, according to the missing children’s organization.
Police say Andrea Reyes is one of them.
Reyes, who disappeared with her mother 25 years ago, was found in Mexico this month after police in New Haven, Connecticut, revived the cold case. Investigators used interviews, search warrants and social media to find her and confirmed her identity through DNA testing. There is still an active warrant for the mother who allegedly kidnapped her.
Media attention can also help find abducted children even many years after their disappearance. In 2023, then-15-year-old Kayla Unbehaun was found safe in North Carolina six years after she disappeared with her mother when a store owner recognized her from an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries.” Heather Unbehaun has been charged with child abduction and is expected to appear in court next month.
Unbehaun told USA TODAY that she plans to fight the criminal charge against her, hopes to eventually reconnect with her daughter, and the situation is still “very emotional.” Kayla’s father has been awarded full custody. “Kayla’s doing really, really well with the help of family and therapy,” Ryan Iserka told USA TODAY.
Sometimes, sheer luck can help break a case. A 14-year-old who went missing in Georgia in 2017, was found this month with his mother in Colorado, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. That case was featured on “Unsolved Mysteries,” but police found the teen after responding to a trespassing call. They said his mother, Rabia Khalid, was spotted on security cameras illegally entering a vacant home.
Khalid, now charged with kidnapping, has not entered a plea, according to court officials, and could not be reached for comment.
“It’s very important that people understand, yeah, missing children – even after years and years – can be found,” Hartmann said.
International child abductions add additional legal wrinkles
Even when a missing child is located, parents still may have to jump through legal hoops to get them back particularly if they’ve been taken out of the country, according to Vicki L. Francois, an attorney who practices family law and criminal defense.
More than 3,000 children abducted by family were taken out of the U.S. between 2008 and 2017, more than a quarter of the cases reported to the center for missing children during that timeframe. International abductions were more likely to last longer or go unresolved entirely, the organization found.
Last year, the State Department tapped Francois to represent a young mother whose 6-month-old baby had been kidnapped. The mother surmised − correctly − that the father had taken the child from Mexico to Martinsville, Virginia, where he had family.
The mother temporarily moved in with Francois in Virginia as the attorney worked her case pro bono. “She cried every single day, was praying every single day,” Francois said.
Francois successfully proved in Virginia state court that the child had been wrongfully removed from its “habitual place of residence,” as is required by the Hague Convention. The child was immediately returned to the mother and taken back to Mexico.
What can parents do to prevent child abduction?
The mother Francois represented was initially hesitant to file a police report, but the lawyer said the decision to involve law enforcement quickly helped expedite the case. She urged other parents to do the same.
“Don’t delay. If you send if you think something is happening or the child has been taken, you know, report it to law enforcement. Immediately,” she said. “Reach out to the friends and family, watch social media if you can.”
Francois said parents who are worried about a possible international abduction can also have the State Department notify them if a duplicate passport is requested. She said that unmarried parents in particular should secure a custody agreement, which can make it easier to get a court order requiring the return of the child if they are wrongfully taken out of state or abroad.
“It’s obviously a lot easier to do − to be proactive and prevent it on the front end − than it is once the child is already gone or moved,” Francois said.
Contributing: Ken Alltucker and Julia Gomez, USA TODAY; Joe Johnson, Athens Banner-Herald
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