Missing Children Stories
Success from the Committee for Missing Children
Over the last several years, The Committee for Missing Children has been involved in Success Stories of abducted children from Germany, Spain, Nigeria, Paraguay, Canada, Poland, Australia, Honduras, Morocco, France, England and Argentina. Through our American and European offices, we have also assisted parents who have had their children abducted to South Africa, United States, Gambia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Malaysia, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Costa Rica, Sudan and Lebanon, just to mention a few countries. When a child is abducted across international borders, the left-behind parent is faced with the possibility of having to travel to a foreign country where they may face a series of problems. There will be cultural differences, language differences, as well as a confusing and frustrating legal system. Many times they may find themselves alone in a country that is hostile to their way of life. The challenges they will face will be many and diverse.
Missing Children Stories - Success Story #1
Michele Glinsboeckel and her daughter Morgan: Captain Glinsboeckel is a member of the United States Army Reserves. In April of 2003, Captain Glinsboeckel departed for Kuwait to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. By agreement with her former husband, Morgan was to stay with him until the mother returned. The father defied a court order not to remove Morgan from Florida and took the child to Germany. Upon returning from the year's deployment, Michele was referred to us by Harald Weisker in Germany. After reviewing her case it was determined that we would be able to support her efforts to have her daughter returned. Working closely with Mr. Weisker, Michele's attorney, we arranged transportation to Germany for the court hearing. The CMC also arranged for room and board while in Germany.
Morgan was ordered returned to the United States. The mother and daughter had to leave Germany ASAP; we donated 50,000 frequent flyer miles so that the child could fly home immediately. Without the donation of miles, the ticket would have cost over $1,500.
Missing Children Stories - Success Story # 2
Angela Brewer and her sons Obike and Chijioke: The Committee for Missing Children was contacted by Kathy Baker in the State Department's Office of Children's Issues. Kathy told us of a mother who needed help getting her two sons back from Paraguay. It was originally thought that the father had taken the children to the Ivory Coast; however he did finally tell the authorities where the children were. The mother, originally from Nigeria, did not have the means to travel to Paraguay to recover her sons. We able to help her obtain two tickets for the children. Today mom and the boys are happily back home in the United States. Missing Children Stories - Success Story # 3
Tony Donley and son Senoul. The last case involves abduction to Spain. The CMC arranged for the mother and child to return to the United States. The mother and father agreed to the return, but only if the father paid for all the tickets. The father was referred to us by the department of State and we were able to assist him.
Mr. Donley was assisted by Attorney Linda Shay Gardner. Linda has been a great source of legal advice to both The Committee for Missing Children as well as many of the parents who have been referred to our U.S. Office. Linda also works closely with the case workers at the Department of State. Both Linda and Harald are members of the Board of Directors for The Committee for Missing Children.
These are just a few of the many Missing Children Stories of Success we have worked on over the last few years. As you can see, we can get children returned, but it costs. Parents need a lawyer and lawyers cost. They need transportation and transportation costs. They need room and board and that is not free, it costs. We help parents in need as much as we can, these parents and many more like them. The only thing that will make us better is more money.
The Committee for Missing Children guides and councils parents and can occassionally assist them with some of the expenses they will incur throughout their "adventure" in the foreign country. We have often helped with airfare as well as room and board. While we do not pay legal fees, we do have lawyers that will review a case and make recommendations to the parent. Most of this is done pro bono or at a reduced rate.
To create Missing Children Stories of Success parents need to find a good attorney, one that has litigated under the international treaty for the return of children abducted across international borders. This is not always easy. The Department of State's Office of Children's Issues is responsible for assigning a case worker to any parent who has a child abducted into the United States or to a parent who has had their child abducted out of the United States to a foreign country. The strange thing is that they are forbidden to recommend a (good) lawyer. They are only allowed to give a list of attorneys - no recommendations.
For this reason, our Director in Europe, Christiane Lops, is developing a list of attorneys who have litigated under the Treaty and have won the return of children to their place of habitual residence.
Two of the attorneys we use and who have had a tremendous amount of success are Harald Weisker in Germany and Linda Shay Gardner in Pennsylvania. Both Harald and Linda have given hours of free legal advice and guidance to hundreds of parents over the years. As long as we can continue to find competent and caring attorneys like them, parents will have a good shot at winning the return of their children.
Our European office has expanded and we are now able to offer a small apartment to the parents coming from abroad for their stay in Germany. This is free of charge and is appreciated by the parents, who take advantage of the opportunity to save the money that would have been spent on a hotel room. We also pick the parents up at the airport and drive them to their appointments with their lawyer or court hearing. This is a great relief especially for parents who do not speak the language and do not know the country. All of this is coordinated by our director, Ms. Lops who works closely with Mr. Weisker.
Several parents have stayed in our apartment. Both Noel Walsh and Jarrod Ellis took advantage of the accommodations offered free of charge by the Committee for Missing Children. On a trip back to Germany for a visit, Matthias and his mother spent an evening at the apartment. Another guest, Graham Mc Keddie from Canada, recovered his son and has visited two times and is due back soon for a third time.
In addition to our apartment, we also supply cell phones and internet service for all parents visiting Germany to recover their children. We continually look for ways to make a parents visit easier. Our goal is to remove as much stress as we can from an already stressful situation.
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Most ways of helping do not require any money at all.
This site is supplied in support of the Committee for Missing Children courtesy of John E. Strange, M.D. and family.
Other Important Sites:
EDUCATIONAL CATALOGS
ST. JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL
ON-LINE TEACHER STORES
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
GIRL SCOUTS OF AMERICA
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
FREE WEIGHT LOSS MEETINGS
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
ON-LINE TEACHER CATALOGS