Maryland International Parental Kidnapping Case

[TXex's]

A very rare win in such a situation and even more of a win that law enforcement got as involved as they did. Way too common of a problem that rarely gets the support it deserves to bring to resolution.

MSP CLOSES COLD CASE INVESTIGATION REUNITING A MISSING CHILD WITH HER FATHER EIGHT YEARS LATER

(Newark, NJ)— The Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit closes a cold case investigation and reunites a missing child with her father after an eight year search.
On Monday, June 4, 2012, Kyle Hogan, 43, of the 7000 block of Harmans Road in Hanover, Maryland, reunited with his now twelve year old daughter at Newark International Airport. After an eight year search and with police assistance, Hogan and his daughter are together.

Hogan reported his four year old daughter missing in 2004 after his estranged wife took her on a family visit to the Philippines. The mother and the child never returned.
Due to an unsettled custody dispute at the time of the abduction, Hogan found it difficult to find assistance through official channels. Two years later in 2006, while continuing his legal battle and the search for his daughter, an Anne Arundel County Court awarded Hogan full custody of his daughter. Subsequently, a misdemeanor bench warrant was issued for the wife.

In May 2010 the wife was stopped by police at the Philadelphia International Airport based on the Maryland warrant, but the warrant was non-extraditable allowing for her release. Police advised her of the outstanding warrant and of the latest custody order.
In January 2012, the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit (CRU) was requested to assist with the “cold case” investigation by Anne Arundel County Police Department. The CRU coordinated its efforts with the Anne Arundel County Police Missing Persons Unit, the Anne Arundel County State Attorney’s Office and Mr. Hogan in an attempt to locate his daughter. The CRU obtained an extraditable warrant, followed leads through five states and eventually learned of an exact address for the wife in Georgia.
Maryland State Police investigators from the Child Recovery Unit coordinated with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office and the wife was arrested and a subsequent search warrant was executed at her Georgia home. The child was not found.

Upon the wife’s return to Maryland, police learned the child was still secreted in the Philippines which resulted in a court order from an Anne Arundel County judge. The wife was ordered to arrange for the child’s return to Maryland.

Because the child no longer had a valid passport, temporary travel documents had to be obtained through the Office of Children’s Issues at the State Department. State Police investigators from the CRU coordinated the young girl’s exhaustive trip back to Maryland with officials from the Customs and Border Patrol,the Baltimore Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

When the wife and daughter landed at Newark International Airport they were met by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and by Kyle Hogan. Hogan and his daughter immediately returned to Maryland.

[Thoughts?]

Great news for the child and for the dad. Hope they get into a good counselor to help them steer through the many issues caused by the elapsed time without access and the different cultures.

[tom kirkpatrick]

This is quite a story - more correctly, a saga.

Tom

[jumbledone]

So if I read this correctly, the biatch was so spiteful to the dad she sent the kid overseas to live with someone else while she partied away in GA?

Wow, poor poor kid. Not feeling wanted by both parents. Hopefully she'll learn dad always loved her and continued to try to see her.

[dadmisseskids]

In May 2010 the wife was stopped by police at the Philadelphia International Airport based on the Maryland warrant, but the warrant was non-extraditable allowing for her release. Police advised her of the outstanding warrant and of the latest custody order.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. She was stopped in PA but released because the police could not enforce the bench warrant since it was out of Maryland. At the time, the father had full custody. I understand the extradition rules but this is how I interpret the situation.

Mother takes kid somewhere in 2004. Father goes to court and is awarded full custody in 2006. Police stop mother in May of 2010 but can't do anything because it's a bench warrant. The mother had kept the kid away from the father for six years at that point. Two years later the court orders the mother to return the kid.

Why couldn't the court order the mother to return the kid in 2010 when she was arrested? If the father had full custody for four years, isn't that kidnapping? They had the woman and let her go. After the father was awarded full custody in 2006, the court should have had issued some type of criminal warrant.