Sandra Rucki – Parental Kidnapper

Michael Brodkorb of the Star Tribune is reporting from West St. Paul Court Hearing for the Sandra Rucki Case.

• Undisclosed Bank Records — In 2010, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki secretly received $2.4 million from a life insurance policy. Her father died in 2010. Sandra Rucki used banks in Las Vegas to access and transfer portions of the money.
• Marriage to Michael Rhedin — There is speculation that Sandra Rucki married Michael Rhedin. He was wearing a wedding ring at the court hearing. They may have been married abroad.
• U.S. Passport — In November 2015, Sandra Rucki’s attorney Michelle MacDonald said she didn’t have a passport. In the recent court hearing, MacDonald said she had a passport.
• Child Support — Sandra Rucki owes $6,963.69 in unpaid child support.
• April 2016 — the next court hearing.

Source

Twitter: @mbrodkorb

Editor’s Note: At a Criminal Trial Hearing, Michelle MacDonald wanted the court to appoint her as a public defender and for Dakota County to pay her fee.  MacDonald also tried to collect over $200,000 in legal fees owed her. Now it is disclosed that Sandra Rucki was hiding a portion of $2.4 million dollars. Now they need to check Michael Rhedin’s bank records to see if Rucki hid the money in his name.

It’s sounding more like Sandra Rucki wasn’t interested in raising her children. So she sends her daughters to live on a ranch and is found at a luxurious resort in Florida with a male companion. What kind of mother is that?

Michelle Wolferts – Parental Kidnapper – “Alleged Abuser”

In July 2014, Sonja “Michelle” Wolfert‘s two teenage daughters went missing from Orem, Utah. The mother who shared custody with her former spouse claimed they were teenage runaways and filed a police report. But 18 months later, the 15 and 16 year old girls were found living in an apartment with their mother. Michelle Wolferts was charged with custodial interference, filing a false police report and housing fraud.

The Michelle Wolferts Case represents a number of Teenager Family Abduction Cases. After a prolonged custody battle in Family Court with her former spouse in which she did not receive sole custody, the protective parent mom / family court critic faked a teenager runaway or missing child case. In cases like these, numerous hours of law enforcement resources are spent in searching for the missing children.

After the arrest of the parental kidnapper, the protective parent / family court critic groups start plastering the Internet on sites like Facebook, Twitter and even setup separate websites to support this act of civil disobedience. The Wolferts case was also featured on the Dr. Phil Show in the show, Parental Alienation or Runaway Sisters?

What is disturbing in this case is that Michelle Wolferts and her supporters and some of the Media including the Huffington Post are labeling the Searching Custodial Father in this case as the “Alleged Abuser”, “Documented Abuser” and “Admitted Abuser”. Some sites are even using another term that starts with a P that is even more inflammatory. As we have seen in other protective mom cases, the mother will use any means including acts of civil disobedience (slander) and the media (regular media and social media) to get sole custody of her children.

Here are some other notes on this case:

• There are some legal documents on the Internet such as Opinion No. 20110646-CA Filed October 3, 2013.
• The older daughter Brittany that has moved out of the house has a public blog on the case supporting her mother, the parental kidnapper. Like her mother, the daughter appears to want to say anything to support her mother. She has not yet been charged as a third party accomplice.
• A Psychologist, Dr. Randy Hyde has spoken out for the mother and appears to be leaking private and confidential mental health information about the minor children in a public interview for his own professional reputation. This has to be a violation of professional ethics.
• The Searching Father has said the mom is the “Abuser” in this case.

The Protective Parent Movement aka Family Court Critics as well as the Domestic Violence Community argue that Parental Alienation Disorder is not a listed in the DSM-5.

Here are sections of an article that appeared on January 5, 2015 on http://www.inqusitr.com: Parental Alienation Syndrome: Researchers Say the Struggle is Real.

by Amy Schaeffer

What drives a parental alienator? Most commonly, some type of narcissistic personality features, says Dr. Childress. According to Dr. Childress, parents who indoctrinate children into alienating the other parent are linked to narcissist borderline pathogenic parenting.

The symptoms of narcissism include: grandiosity, entitlement, absence of empathy, haughty, arrogant behavior and delusional belief systems. Although narcissistic personality disorder is listed in the DSM-5, which is considered to be the “Bible” of Psychiatric Disorders, so far Parental Alienation Disorder is not listed. Researchers expect that to soon change.

Researcher Amy Baker says that parents who try to alienate their child from the other parent subtlety, or not so subtletly gives a three-part message to the child.

“I am the only parent who loves you and you need me to feel good about yourself; the other parent is dangerous and unavailable; and pursuing a relationship with the other parent jeopardizes your relationship with me.”

[Read more]

Editor’s Note:

When reading the symptoms of narcissism below, you think if the protective moms in these cases we have followed over the years had these symptoms. On the list: April Meyer, Bonnie Rubenstein, Cindy Dumas, Dorothy Lee Barnett, Eileen Clark, Ellen Dever, Genevieve Kelley, Holly Ann Collins, Kelly Rutherford, Maya Tsimhoni and Sandra Rucki. Parental Alienation Disorder “PA” may not yet be in the DSM-5, but these moms certainly appeared to have most of these symptoms.

• grandiosity
• entitlement
• absence of empathy
• haughty
• arrogant behavior
• delusional belief system

In summary, it sounds like Parental Alienation = Narcissist Borderlline Pathogenic Parenting. So in the spirit of coparenting and moving forward in these cases, let’s not give these moms a license to alienate their kids.

The name Dorcy Pruter recently surfaced in the Tsimhoni Custody Case. Dorcy is the Founder and CEO of Conscious Co-Parenting Institute. Through reunification coaching and coparent education, Dorcy provides strategies and solutions for parents and children to reconnect or stay connected during and after a high conflict divorce. She has worked on numerous cases nationally and internationally garnering positive results.

Dorcy Pruter – Coparenting / Reunificaion Coach

Here is what Dr. Craig Childress said bout Dorcy Pruter’s work:

“I have been aware of Ms. Pruter’s work in this area for a while, but through our work together on this case I have had the opportunity to review Ms. Pruter’s reunification protocol and have also been able to engage her in extensive dialogue regarding her approach and an attachment-based model for the construct of “parental alienation.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to provide Ms. Pruter with my unequivocal, full and complete support for her model of family reunification (“High Road to Family Reunification”).  Based on my review of her reunification protocol, it is theoretically sound for addressing the issues surrounding an attachment-based model of “parental alienation.” I would anticipate that her reunification protocol will be highly effective in resolving the family issues surrounding an attachment-based model of “parental alienation.”

“One of the primary issues regarding enacting Ms. Pruter’s reunification protocol is that it FIRST requires the child’s protective separation from the distorted parenting practices of the narcissistic/(borderline) allied (and supposedly “favored”) parent. This is, however, not a limitation of her protocol but instead represents an authentic treatment-related need of addressing the pathogenic parenting of the narcissistic/(borderline) parent that is inducing the very serious child psychopathology evidenced in attachment-based “parental alienation.”

[Read More from Dr. Craig Childress on Dorcy Pruter’s Work]

In these Family Abduction Cases, it is unlikely that other Family Members did not know where the location of the Abductor and the kids. In the Teenager Family Abduction by Michelle Wolferts, we have a very difficult time believing that Brittany Wolferts did not aid and abet in this crime. She had to of known where her sisters and mother were or at the very least who or whom knew.

In this era of Social Media where the supporters of the parental kidnapper post custody and confidential health records online, it is surprising that there haven’t been any lawsuits yet. In 2006, a licensed practical nurse pled guilty for wrongfully disclosing a patient’s health information for person gain. That crime carried a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $250K fine.

In the case of the young adult Brittany Wolfert’s blog, you can see documents uploaded that appear to be the release of confidential personal health records of her father. She may be thinking she is helping her sisters but her possible there may be unfortunate consequences to her actions.

Brittany also appeared on the Dr. Phil Show. In past years many of the protective parent movement moms and their supports have appeared on TV Talk Shows. But in the age of reality TV, I am uncertain if her story sounds more like one from the Jerry Springer Show rather than the Kardashians. It is unfortunate that many of these young adult women that are impacted by these Teenage Family Abductions may desire to be the next Kardashians but to some of us, it sounds more like the Springer Show. You can see a link to Brittany’s appearance on the Dr. Phil Show below and another interview.

A Family Abduction or Teenager Family Abduction is one of the most horrific crimes against a child. It is one of the most severe forms of Domestic or Family Violence. Michelle Wolferts did not exhaust her legal remedies before she became the Judge, Jury and Executioner in determining custody of her daughters. It has been apparent that after having three children with her former spouse after marrying him in her very early twenties — she has since been trying to write her remarried former spouse and his new wife out of her children’s lives. Despite what her supporters or groupies want to believe or post to social media, Michelle Wolferts is the Alleged or Documented Abuser in this Case. In her groupies words, she may also be the Admitted Abuser.

Finally, it sounds like Brittany Wolferts has certainly been supporting her mother in this Teenager Family Abduction. Once law enforcement takes the time to review her cell phone records and emails, the local district attorney will need to decide if she too should be charged. That said, with some of the personal health information she has been posting, she may have far more civil and criminal exposure in that area. I would urge Brittany Wolferts to have her attorneys review her information on her blog and find a way to de-escalate the situation with her father and step mother “for the best interests of her sisters”.

“Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors.”

After a Family Abduction recovery, parental kidnapping victims usually go to reunification therapy with their custodial parent as recommended by the Department of Justice. In these cases the arrested parental kidnapper will use news and social media as a new forum to deprive her former spouse of his custodial rights. Since the protective mom will most likely claim the “Necessity Defense” as her criminal defense, the desperate defendant will levy ever single possible allegation against her former spouse. She will also claim that the United States Court System and Criminal Justice System were unable to deliver her desired results. As part of this defense, she will also need to prove that she exhausted all her legal remedies before fleeing and her belief to protect her children were reasonable.

To protect her teenage children from testifying against her, she will also do everything to ensure independent professional therapists are not allowed to evaluate the children. So in the Wolferts Sisters case, the mother had months in which she held her teenage daughters hostage. The daughters were no doubt not allowed to attend school like most teenagers and were kept off social media and the Internet. In these cases, many would say it is likely the daughters have Stockholm Syndrome in being loyal to their mother, the accused kidnapper.

The Wolferts Sisters may also have been kept underground in hiding with their promise to make them Kardashian or Jerry Springer Celebs on the Internet or TV Talk Show Circuit. Their lone appearance was on Dr. Phil in a video. Unfortunately, as we have seen in other Parental Kidnapping Cases, Hollywood is really not interested in the divorce/custody shows. The TV Talk Shows are not interested in these parental kidnapping or custody battle stories. Besides, these protective moms never make good reality TV stars with their narcissist borderline pathogenic parenting. So now the Wolferts Sisters will need to decide how they move forward with their lives. It certainly doesn’t sound like the TV Talk Show Circuit is their next stop. Their older sister got married at a young age just like her mother.  Will they follow in that path too or is now the time to be thinking about College.

The latest according to US Weekly is that Madonna thinks Guy Ritchie is trying to brainwash Rocco. In this International Custody Dispute, we think Madonna is correct. We also think Guy Ritchie is engaging in a Teenager Family Abduction by keeping his son in the UK.

Guy Richie’s position is that the teenager ran away from home which was Madonna’s International Rebel Heart Tour. But as coparents, what is Guy Ritchie’s responsibility in getting his son Rocco on the plane to abide by their New York Court Ordered Custody Agreement.

If Rocco wanted to live with his father, then his dad should have gone to court in New York City asking the court for the custody change. There is certainly a change in circumstances that might warrant the change. Instead, Guy is giving his son shelter, his son now has an attorney and he is keeping him in the UK. This sounds like an International Family Abduction which is not that much different than the crime Kelly Rutherford we believe committed.

There is a process for changing a court ordered custody agreement. We don’t think Guy Ritchie is playing by the rules. At 15 years old, Rocco may not know what’s best for him but even if he does, he should abide by the court order.

As a celebrities, we do believe both Guy and Madonna should be held to a higher standard like professional athletes that we have seen in the news. International Family Abduction is a serious crime so we hope that Guy can reach a peaceful resolution with Madonna.

In Family Abduction Cases, the is an incorrect belief that the only victim is the searching parent. But in the Wolferts Sisters Teenager Family Abduction by arrested parental kidnapper Michelle Wolferts, the both grandparents are also victims of this horrible and heinous crime against a child. They were deprived of a relationship with their grandchildren.

There are reports that the father’s parents have had visitation with the Wolfert’s Sisters. That is a situation where the Juvenile Court is doing the right thing. These grandparents should see their grandchildren and may help to de-escalate this horrible situation.

Meanwhile, I see that Michelle Wolfert’s Supporters/Groupies are posting that the grandparents are using “alienation tactics” against Michelle. In addition, in social media you see some really horrible names assigned to the custodial father that more than likely will be evidence used in a future lawsuit against the Facebook Page Owner or author of that content.

I would like to see some Reunification Therapists and some Attorneys step up and assist the father and the father’s parents in this case.  The father has no doubt gone through thousands of dollars like most searching parents do.

The Brian E. Wolferts Legal Trust

In my opinion, Michelle Wolferts is a desperate protective mom that will go to any extreme, even illegal ones to write her ex-husband out of her children’s lives. There are not many parents that would fake a kidnapping that would waste thousands of dollars of law enforcement resources. Her act of civil disobedience needs to be punished. But as we have seen in other cases, now is the time for Reunification Therapy between this remarried father and his daughters. As we have seen in the other cases, the motive in this cases is anger and revenge, not love for the children.

Model Angie Vu – Accused Parental Kidnapper 
Photo: ROB RICH / SPLASH NEWS/ROB RICH

Safe Kids International, the Protective Parent Organization / Family Court Critics led by Cindy Dumas has been social media shaming the judge, prosecuting attorneys and the fathers in almost all new parental kidnapping and high conflict divorce cases. They have been supporting the protective mothers without any discretion for the possibility that any or all allegations may be unsupported.

So Angie Vu, “Asia’s Sexiest DJ has been incarcerated in the Metropolitan Detention in Brooklyn, NY since November 4, 2015.  She was arrested at JFK Airport as she tried to flee with her 9-year old daughter to Vietnam. She had previously agreed to return the child to the child’s father Richard Froger in Paris, France. The father has custody of Vu’s child in Paris, France and the child was expected to be back in Paris on August 29, 2015.

On February 3, 2016, Angie Vu made a personal plea to Brooklyn Judge, Viktor Pohorelsky. France has requested the United States extradite the celebrity Angie Vu to face parental kidnapping charges. Vu in a 20-minute rambling statement claimed she was the victim of domestic violence; claimed her daughter’s biological father was wrongly granted custody; and said she was falsely accused of being a porn star.

The Vietnamese-born model has appeared in Playboy and the TV Show America’s Got Talent where she smooched with Nick Cannon.

Back to Safe Kids International. It appears that this protective parent organization has decided to not support Angie Vu since we see no evidence of this high profile case on their Facebook Public Shaming page. Like the other protective moms/family court critics (Michelle Wolferts, Maya Tsimhoni, Sandra Rucki, Kelly Rutherford) — Angie Vu is claiming to be a victim of Domestic Violence. In this case, only Rucki and Vu of this group are currently incarcerated and considered to be flight risks.

I am not sure why Safe Kids International does not appear to be support Angie Vu. It might relate to Angie Vu’s profession, lifestyle or that they may actually agree with us —  that Angie Vu is guilty of the crime of International Family Abduction.

Defendant Michelle Wolferts and Brittany Wolferts Dangerfield

As the Wolferts Sisters Parental Kidnapping Case unfolds, it is becoming more evident that Brittany Wolferts Dangerfield may have been involved. And it is also evident that the 20-year old doesn’t understand who files charges in Criminal Cases (Hasn’t she ever seen an episode of Law and Order?) In a interview with Kurt Hanson (@hansonherald) of the Daily Herald, the young adult says:

“[Brittany Wolferts] Dangerfield said “she [her mother] was surprisingly issued charges relating to housing fraud, though she doesn’t know why or how she [her mother] was charged. She believes a third party, who accused her [mother] of knowing where her sisters were when they first went missing, filed the charges against her.”

“[Brittany Wolfers] Dangerfield said she’s filed criminal charges with the Orem Police Department against her father…”

It’s too bad the Daily Herald Reporter, Kurt Hanson didn’t correct the young adult. Instead, he printed exactly what she said. We know that this reporter certainly knows that only Prosecutors or District Attorneys can file charges in a criminal proceeding. Perhaps Hanson intentionally left that in to expose the tenets of these proclaimed Family Court Critics.

Moving on to Michelle Wolferts who has been charged with custodial interference, filing a false police reporting and housing fraud. As a charged defendant, she is giving an interview to Utah Family TV Blogger/Lawyer Eric K. Johnson. How many defendants awaiting trial do we hear giving interviews without their attorneys present? Or does her daughter Brittany believe she is her attorney or perhaps her social media attorney in the court of public opinion.

From the interview, it really difficult to believe the mother wasn’t orchestrating each movement of her older daughter while she was underground or in hiding. And I find it very difficult to believe the District Attorney doesn’t have evidence against Brittany Wolferts to also charge her as a third party conspirator. As this case continues to unfold, the District Attorney should indict the mother and daughter on new Felony Charges. It’s apparent that they do not believe in the severity of the charges.

On Friday, the judge wanted the girls’ guardian ad litem to find a professional therapist for the girls. Both Michelle Wolferts and her daughter Brittany Wolferts have supervised visitation with the girls who many believe to have Stockholm Syndrome. Of course this has angered Michelle and Brittany. The father through his attorney Brian Wilkinson said his client is also involved in finding the girls therapy.

Both Michelle Wolferts and Brittany Wolferts have voiced their opinion against the Family Court System. As the case returns to the same process that Michelle fled, you hope that it will eventually be time for them to take ownership and responsibility for their criminally deviant actions. These teenagers like the Rucki girls deserve a chance at Reunification and  therapy.

Angie Vu – Photo: ROB RICH / SPLASH NEWS

The New York Daily News is reporting that a Brooklyn federal magistrate judge has ruled that France has met its legal obligation for the extradition of Angie Vu to face parental abduction charges in Paris. In his decision, Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky wrote in his decision “that it is beyond his jurisdiction to address Vu’s claims she was a victim of domestic violence“. The U.S. State Department must now approve the extradition as the final step.

Angie Vu ignored a court order on August 29, 2015 and did not return her 9-year old child to the custodial father in Paris. On November 4, 2015, Vu was arrested and has been incarcerated in Metropolitan Detention in Brooklyn, New York since.

Source

Secretary of State Kerry to decide on fate of sexy DJ Angie Vu, who faces extradition by John Marzulli (New York Daily News, 02-08-2016)

Editor’s Note: The U.S. State Department should act swiftly and decisively in approving the extradition of Angie Vu to France. Like Kelly Rutherford, Vu engaged in “forum shopping” to find another venue after losing custody. The judge was correct in not allowing her to use the domestic violence allegations to stall the extradition like Eileen Clark did the United Kingdom; Dorothy Lee Barnett did in Australia; and Holly Ann Collins in the Netherlands. The proper venue for the case is Paris, France and Angie Vu can use those claims in her criminal defense. If she didn’t like the custody arrangement, rather than withholding custody in the United States — she should have used her lawyers in Paris rather than kidnap her 9-year old to Vietnam to live with her family members.

Like Kelly Rutherford, I believe celebrities like Angie Vu should be held to a higher standard. Angie should apologize to the French Courts, her former spouse, her daughter and become a spokesperson for International Custody Cases and International Coparenting.

With Michelle Wolferts and Brittany Wolferts Dangerfield continuing their public shaming campaign with false information and innuendo, I am shocked that the judge has not ordered a gag order. As in other cases, prosecuting District Attorneys usually ask the victim (the father in this case) to refrain from speaking to the media. And in cases involving minors where juvenile court hearings are not open to the public, it is shameful to see these cases involving minors litigated in the media.

There are a number of websites that clearly show the timeline of events from the fathers perspective which are shocking. These sites present facts and evidence that Michelle Wolferts, Brittany Wolferts Dangerfield and family members Troy Olson (the uncle), Judy Olson (the grandmother) and Rob more than likely acted as co-conspirators in the Teenager Family Abduction. As Family Abduction Researchers have concluded, 75% of the time, family members know where the parentally kidnapped children are. Brittany Wolferts also tried unsuccessfully to get custody of her sisters when they were in hiding and more than likely filed a false police report or lied to police. I am surprised that the District Attorney has not charged others as third party conspirators like the Minnesota District Attorney did in the Sandra Rucki Case. These individuals certainly had the combined economic means to litigate the issue in court, but instead decided to support this Teenager Family Abduction.

Like in many of these cases, Brittany and the other family members also appeared on the Dr. Phil Show to get publicity for the cause as well as themselves. On that show, Troy, Judy and Brittany said they had no idea where Michelle and the girls are. If they knew, they clearly misled law enforcement on that show. That’s certainly egregious behavior that does not show that they should be considered for any future custody rights of these teenagers. They have shown or earned no respect for the legal system.

Here are links to one of those websites that support the father in this case: 

Brought Safely Home Website

“Background. My wife and I support Brian Wolferts, the custodial parent of Sydney and Danielle Wolferts. These girls have been missing since July 2014. It appears from social media reports that their mother and her supporters are hiding them. If this is so, directly involved or aiding and abetting a kidnapping. Brian has worked with local police departments, not-for-profit missing persons organizations, father’s rights groups, and other organizations to locate his daughters. He has not heard from them in over five months.”

Wolferts Sisters Timeline

From the Editor:

I have a problem with the Family Court Critics Cause. It started as the courts began to favor the assumption of joint custody in all cases. In a very small number of high-conflict custody cases involving narcissistic borderline protective moms, their lawyers were unable to control their clients. Many divorcing moms used divorced tactics such as false domestic abuse allegations and withholding custody (parental kidnapping). To some protective mothers, it was an insult to share custody with their former spouse. So the courts used trusted psychologists and social workers to perform custody evaluations. As the truth came out, some of these mothers were simply caught in their lies and rather than focus on their parenting skills they became histrionic. With their narcissism, they were not cooperative with the custody evaluators and performed very badly on both the psychiatric testing and clinical observations. Many were not willing to accept joint custody and turned to the Domestic Violence “DV” Community for advice and assistance.

During these times, most of the DV Community referred mothers to the secretive “Protective Parent” movement which included the Underground for providing assistance for these moms to kidnap their kids. The

The mothers that lost custody felt victimized by not only their lawyers and former spouses but the system.  They were desperate and wanted revenge. They were the ones that wanted either sole custody or No custody and would never consider joint custody. Many even refused supervised visitation with their children.

So the Family Court Critics Groups started with consultants like Karen Winner, an Attorney wand Writer that was promoting her book. In some counties, they hired Winner to write their own private report. They brought forward the stories of some of these protective moms that lost custody of their children and accused the court of poor performance, cronyism and willful misconduct on the part of Family Court Judges and Court Professionals. But as I understand, these allegations proved to be false according to later independent investigations.

During this time, the critics did not accuse the Juvenile Court or the Criminal Court for not prosecuting abuse or family violence cases. Those courts worked independently of the Family Court. The protective moms had always had those legal alternatives available to them, but elected not to use them. If they did, then going to Family Law would not have been necessary. Or more likely if their allegations were credible, the District Attorneys would have done something.

Now the Family Court Critics are targeting Family Court Judges, using social media shaming to gain an advantage for a very small number of cases. As we have seen in recent months, their community of supporters are willing to do just about anything including commit acts of disobedience (slander, misrepresentation/deceit) to support the proclaimed protective parent. In a case in Michigan, they even got the Judicial Commission to file a complaint against a Judge.

The real problem is that the Family Court Critics are not encouraging some of these jailed or custody embattled mothers to take any responsibility for their deviant behavior or uncooperativeness during the shared custody time. Any criticism of the protective moms parenting skills in the Custody Evaluations is completely ignored. Their defense is that the system made me do it. The Judge has either taken a bribe or is friends with her former spouse’s attorney. The Guardian Ad Litem appointed by the judge or agreed on by both parties is either impartial and not looking after the best interests of the child. They actually think the GALs may also be paid off. The protective moms and their Family Court Critic supporters believe they have a license to disparage the fathers and even his family members in these cases as evidenced by the posts we are seeing on social media. They are publishing confidential health records, custody evaluations, psychiatric reports and every detail about the child’s lives. They are making claims such as: “the children are not doing well”. They are posting every horrible allegation whether true or not against the mother’s proclaimed enemy. And this information will be on the Internet forever.

None of these mothers are willing now to plead guilty and simply say, I wrongfully wanted revenge against my former spouse. I acted inappropriately and apologize to my children, law enforcement, the court system, my family, my friends and my former spouse and his family. Let’s go back to coparenting and joint custody. As parents move on after divorce, remarry, have other kids, they are laying no foundation to attend their children’s graduations or marriage with the other parent present.

The Family Court Critics will most likely hold a protest rally at the courthouses to garner media attention to their cause. Unfortunately, with any protests you also get some of the extremists that may not be so peaceful and are willing to commit acts of civil disobedience. Let’s hope the Family Court Critics keep their protests peaceful and eventually find other more constructive ways to improve our Court and Child Protection systems.

The Editor

Faye Ku, Parental Kidnapper with Sons Isaac and Sage – Missing Since August 2015

Newsweek Reporter Max Kutner has published another global story on the Family Court Critics / Protective Parent Movement. Faye Ku of Los Angeles, California a non-custodial mother that was born in Taiwan, kidnapped her three of her boys and is believed to be underground and allegedly assisted by supporters of these groups. Two of the boys are from a father in Seattle and the other in Los Angeles. Faye Ku is believed to be either in Taiwan or somewhere in the United States.

The article contains interviews from some of the most recognized names in the protective parent movement:

• Faye Yager, is founder of The Children of the Underground and claims to no longer be in retirement.
• Amy Neustein, the controversial and outspoken protective parent movement support. (Neustein lost custody of her daughter many years ago and is now estranged from the successful Washington Attorney.)
• Cindy Dumas of Safe Kids International. The controversial activists / Family Court Critic wrote on her organizations Facebook page to “don’t turn this mom in”. (Dumas is estranged from some of her sons.)
•  Dede Evavold is currently awaiting trial as a co-conspirator in the Sandra Rucki Teenager Family Abduction.

Here’s a link to read the entire story: [Read More]

Editor’s Note: Sage Cook is 15 years old. Faye Ku is a U.C. Berkeley graduate. How was she able to kidnap her 15-year old son Sage without emotionally abusing him and holding him hostage. How could this 15 year old not have access to the Internet or a cell phone in this digital era to call his father.

With Newsweeks Global Circulation and Online Media, we are hopeful that this global story will bring these boys homes to their custodial families. We applaud Newsweek for publishing this story. We urge Victim Families to keep hope alive that they will soon be reunified with these children.

Faye Ku – Arrested Parental Kidnapper

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced that the search for Sage Cook, 15 and Isaac Cook, 9 has ended. Authorities located them in safe condition in Mexico’s Sinaloa state. They were returned to their custodial father and stepmother of Bellevue, Washington. The parents were “reunified” with the children in Mexico.

Wikpedia: Sinaloa, Mexico

The felony warrant for custodial interference was issued by King County Superior Court in the state of Washington on September 3, 2015 for Faye Hsin-I Ku, 41 years of age. A federal arrest warrant was issued on January 19, 2016 by the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, after Faye Ku was charged with international parental kidnapping. An additional federal complaint and arrest warrant was issued on February 12, 2016 by the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Investigators believed Faye Ku crossed the border illegally from San Diego to Tijuana with the three children on August 29, 2016. The FBI’s legal Attache office in Mexico City pursued a series of leads to identify the location and passed information to Mexican officials, who took prompt action, assuring the safety of the children.

The FBI’s Seattle Division and Legat Mexico City coordinated the deportation of Faye Ku was the Mexican Authorities. The National Institute of Migration (INM) officers accompanied Ku to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where she was taken into federal custody. She is expected to appear in U.S. District Court on February 16 2016 in Los Angeles.

There were a number of law enforcement organizations involved in the recovery of the Cook boys. The law enforcement resources and legal costs in these cases is usually hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here is the list from the FBI’s press release.

“This six-month international kidnapping investigation by the FBI’s Seattle Division comes to a positive conclusion due to the efforts made by and extraordinary partnerships with Legat Mexico City, INM, the FBI’s Los Angeles Division. The FBI’s Seattle Division also worked closely with the Bellevue Police Department and the Lakewood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—who both initiated the investigation—and with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington, and the King County Prosecutor’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California.”

[Read More from the FBI’s Press Release]

Editor’s Note:

•  On behalf of the Family Abduction Community, I want to express our happiness for the recovering family. Their persistence and willingness to work with the media in their search to find their children is commendable.
•  With so many different domestic and international jurisdictions involved, law enforcement deserves credit for working together to swiftly and decisively recover these children. In so many other cases, they allow the abducting parent to fight extradition and the kidnapped children end up in foster care. They simply observed the custody order of the custodial parents and allowed the recovering family to be rightfully reunified with their children.
• The Global Media including Newsweek (Max Kutner), the Seattle Post Intelligence (Levi Pulkkinen), the Los Angeles Times  (Hailey Branson-Potts) responsibly ran stories to assist the FBI and this family in the recovery of these children.
• There is no information yet on what assistance Faye Ku received, to hide in Sinaloa State of Mexico. We hope law enforcement like in the Sandra Rucki Case will also charge any third party co-conspirators.
• Safe Kids International, the organization run by non-custodial mother Cindy Dumas who also kidnapped her children wrote on September 5, 2015 “If You See Them Do NOT Contact Authorities!” She asks her 10K followers to help them. She believes it is impossible to “abduct” or kidnap a 14-year old. The fact of the matter is in Teenager Family Abduction Cases, no one really knows what this mother told her child to keep him from contacting his dad and step mom, his friends and his grandparents. As we’ve seen in other cases, the emotional abuse inflicted by this protective mom on her son is horrific. We would hope that law enforcement monitors the activity of Cindy Dumas and her supporters.
• We are certain that these children will undergo Reunification Therapy receiving the best of the best treatment for the trauma inflicted on them from the kidnapping. The victim children have to have some form of Stockholm Syndrome. Unfortunately, there is very little research done in this area and these minor’s health records will be protected like it should be.
• We would like to see the media remove the photos of these children or at the very least blur out their faces now that they are recovered. I would seriously doubt these boys are interested the TV Talk Show Circuit like the Wolferts Sisters.

“David and I are ecstatic to announce that Sage and Isaac have been found safe and are home in Bellevue tonight. We are so grateful to the FBI in Seattle and in Mexico for all they did to make this happen. And to all the wonderful people who kept us going for the last five months by supporting us through this page and in many other ways. Thank you all.” – Recovering Family

Source:

Facebook

Editor’s Note:

There is not much precedence for this in this new social media era. But now that these boys are recovered, it is time for the media to remove these boys photos from the Internet or at the very least blur out their faces. These boys will want to return to their schools and certainly do not want the faces plastered over the Internet.

In Australia, it is illegal for the print and online media to show photos of any children involved in a child custody case.

It started with a custody dispute and International Family Abduction to Nicaragua in 2007. Lenore Matusiewictz and her son David Matusiewictz a former optometrist kidnapped David’s daughters to

Christine Belford – Recovering Parent – Now Deceased

Central America. They later plead guilty to federal fraud and kidnapping charges. Lenore received a 1 1/2 year prison sentence. David Matusiewictz was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 5 years probation.

Then on February 2013, Thomas Matusiewicz, a former New Jersey Police Officer, David’s father opened fire inside a New Castle County Delaware courthouse, where he fatally shot the custodial mother Christine Belford and her friend.

In July 21015, in a landmark Cyberstalking Case in Federal Court, an investigation into the shooting led authorities to discover what drove Thomas Matusiewicz to act out in violence. It was the custody battle with his son David’s ex-wife. A jury concluded that his son David, daughter Amy Gonzalez and wife Lenore — were all culpable in the deaths of David’s ex-wife Christine Belford and her friend Laura Mulford.

Here is what Martha Neil reports in a ABA Journal article:

Prosecutors say the wife, son, and daughter of Thomas Matusiewicz played a role in his deadly February 11, 2013 attack on Christine Belford and Laura Mulford, by participating in harassing conduct that resulted in Belford’s death.” David Matusiewicz and his mother and sister allegedly stalked Belford, monitoring her whereabouts and accusing her of child abuse through unrelenting Internet posts, emails, and phone calls. The subsequent trial focused heavily on the cyberstalking component of this harassment, making it among the first of its kind to do so.

On February 12, 2016, Lenore Matusiewicz, 69 was sentenced to life in prison on federal cyberstalking charges. David Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez or scheduled to be sentenced this week.

Sources:

Where relatives culpable in shooter’s deadly courthouse attack? Jury to decide in cyberstalking trial (ABA Journal, 07-09-2015)

Matusiewicz’s Relatives Convicted of Cyberstalking in Landmark Case (Springlaw.com, 07-17-2015)

Court gunman’s widow sentenced to life in prison (Yahoo News, 02-12-2016)

Editor’s Note:

One of our website readers brought this case to our attention.

• We are not publishing photos of the Parental Kidnappers and those convicted in the Cyberstalking Case.
• The Federal Cyberstalking Landmark Charges against these family members have the potential to deter supporters from posting inflammatory information in Child Custody and Family Abduction Cases online and in social media. As we’ve seen in Utah, Minnesota and Michigan, these supporters may not want to be held culpable for any subsequent crime committed. Here’s a link to some information on Cyberstalking laws: www.haltabuse.org
• Lenore Matusiewicz is the first person in the United States to be convicted and sentenced for cyberstalking resulting in death. Over the years, some fathers in these cases have reported receiving death threats as well as other forms of harassment.
• Digital warfare expert Edward McAndrew writes: “The cyber-threat landscape is dotted with a broad assortment of crimes, including identity and intellectual property theft, tax fraud, child exploitation, obstruction of justice, economic espionage, extortion, bullying, stalking, money laundering, terrorism, and even domestic violence. Cyber-criminals work at all levels from stealing the personal information of individuals to bringing down entire systems.” In these Family Abduction Cases, there are almost always other crimes that are not prosecuted with the parental kidnapping charge.

David Matusiewicz – Sentenced to Life in Prison

In a landmark case, Convicted International Parental Kidnapper David Matusiewicz was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Cyberstalking Resulting in Death Case. This might be one of the first times a Parental Kidnapper has been sentenced to a life in prison for a related crime. In a case back in 2013, Parental Kidnapper Christian Gerhartsreiter/Clark Rockefeller was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a California murder.

David Matusiewicz was a former New Jersey Optometrist. He kidnapped his 3 daughters with his mother Lenore Matsuiewicz to Nicaragua for almost two years and was previously sentenced to 4 years in prison. In February 2013, David’s father Thomas entered a courtroom during a child support hearing an killed his former daughter-in-law and a friend then committed suicide.

In July 2015, David Matusiewicz, Lenore Matsuiewicz and his sister Amy Gonzalez, a nurse were convicted of cyberstaking resulting in death. They engaged in a campaign to stalk and spy on David’s ex-wife and their three daughters.

Amy Gonzalez – A Nurse Sentenced to Life in Prison

Amy Gonzalez, a registered Nurse in Texas was sentenced to Life in Prison for her role in the Cyberstalking Resulting in Death Case. Gonzalez was considered the master mind in the cyberstalking of her former sister-in-law. The family engaged in harassing conduct that included unrelenting internet posts, emails and false allegations. Gonzalez was also considered a third party conspirator in the International Family Case and prosecutors say she wired $50,000 to her brother and mother while they were on the lam in Central America with the three girls.

Editor’s Note: This is landmark decision that might have a significant impact on any groups that may be cyberstalking or harassing others in these protective parent cases. Life in Prison might be the most severe sentence ever given to third party co-conspirators in an International Family Abduction Case with related charges. WOW!

Writer Max Kutner of Newsweek has delivered another Family Abduction story on the recovery and more importantly the reunification of the boys that Faye Ku kidnapped to Mexico. The boys were found in a rented house in Mazatlan, Mexico. The house may not have had hot water. The boys were being taught both Chinese and Spanish.

When Faye Ku fled, she left the boys’ electronic devices. She typed letters that instructed a friend to get rid of Ku’s belongings and told Cook, her ex-husband, “The children and I are safe among friends. Please do not send strangers who can only make life more dangerous for us.”

Law enforcement first learned of Ku’s location on February 7, 2016. The custodial family flew to Mexico on February 11th and flew back to the United States on February 12th with the boys. A FBI Victim Specialist accompanied the family on the plane.

Kutner’s story is one of the first to provide an insight into the emotional victimization inflicted on the kidnapped boys. If Faye Ku gave the boys an explanation as to why they could not see their father is unknown at this time.

Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, executive director of the Family Advocacy Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children raises the issue of “divided loyalties”.

Meanwhile, Faye Ku supporters are asking for compassion. Activist Cindy Dumas who most likely considers herself today’s digital version of Faye Yager is claiming that Ku faces life in prison. (18 U.S. Code § 1204 – International parental kidnapping would be 3 years in prison for each child or 9 years. We will see if possibly Dumas is correct and there will be other Federal and State Charges for other crimes committed.)

[Read the Full Newsweek Article]

Editor’s Note:

• Another great story by Max Kutner of Newsweek taking the lead in these series of Family Abduction stories.
• Whatever Faye Ku told her boys while they were in hiding will most likely never be disclosed since it is part of these minor boys therapy. If it is disclosed, it might be during the criminal trial if Ku takes the witness stand or if experts testify as to the emotional abuse inflicted on kids. In any regard, whether it’s parental alienation, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and these kidnapping victims have Stockholm Syndrome, that’s what makes parental kidnapping a horrific crime against a child.
• As we have seen in other cases, reunified children will re-adapt very quickly to their former lives with the custodial parent.
• It’s great to see the FBI had a Victim Specialist in Mexico to assist with the reunification.
• After the Reunification, there are so few resources available to Recovering Parents and their Families.
• The Recovering Family was very fortunate to have the cooperation of many law enforcement resources. That said, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) or the FBI does not normally find your child when they go missing. More resources are needed in this area.
• We would like to see the media remove photos of the victim children in these cases from their websites or at the very least blur out their faces.
• In our opinion, as we have seen in the most recent very tragic Cyberstalking landmark case, most parental kidnappers and their supporters will not give up their cause — even after a prison sentence. After reading Ku’s letter to her former spouse that almost sounds like a possible threat, the only way to protect this family is to incarcerate Faye Ku for the longest possible sentence.
• We continue to be concerned of the activities of Safe Kids International and other Family Court Critic/Protective Parent Movement Activists. We hope that law enforcement will monitor their activities.