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 Editorials | Issues | February 2007 
Parental Kidnappings Across the Border
 Angela Kocherga - KENS 5
| | MISSING (Hayri Caliskan) |
Greg Allen treasures his videotaped memories of his daughter Sabrina.
Four years ago, she disappeared with his ex-wife.
"She took Sabrina on a weekend visit and took her across the border and has been missing ever since," Allen said.
Phillip Klein sees it all the time. He's a private investigator in Texas who specializes in parental abductions.
"She went across in Nuevo Laredo. We know that. We have pictures of them going across," Klein said.
Most of his cases, like Allen's, involve parents who defy custody orders by crossing the border.
"There are resort communities down there. There are a lot of English speaking people down there. They can blend into the community," Klein said.
The growing number of Americans living in Mexico make it an attractive hiding place for parents on the run. There are more than 200 such cases, U.S. officials say.
Allen followed the trail across the border and it led Mexico City. While he waited, Mexican authorities found his ex-wife and daughter. As they went to capture his ex-wife and recover his daughter, the pair disappeared again.
"We have had numerous spottings of them," Klein said.
Klein is convinced an underground network is helping people like Sabrina's mother elude capture.
"I also believe she is very well funded," Klein said.
He's confident he will bring Dara Allen to justice.
"There are guys out there like me, as scruffy as we look, that will get out there and we will hunt you down and find you," Klein said.
He's tracked down several parents, including another Texas mother who was hiding in Mexico with her child.
That capture, Suzanne Dewalt, of New Braunfels, went to prison for seven months for kidnapping.
Now, Jeremy is back home in New Braunfels with his father.
The Dewalt case gives Allen hope he'll see Sabrina again.
For more information on the Allen case, visit www.findsabrina.org. |
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