Maybe the third time will be the charm for a Plano father embroiled in an international custody battle. Two courts have already rebuffed his efforts to bring a child custody case against his ex-fiancé, and now he is asking a federal appeals court in Dallas to step in. The former girlfriend and the couple’s three year-old daughter are living in the United Kingdom; kidnapped, the man says, by the child’s mother. He has been fighting for almost two years to bring his child home.
The last time the lonely father saw his daughter was on October 23rd, 2010, when the trio went to the UK for a vacation to visit with his fiance’s family. Shortly after arriving, mother and child disappeared. British courts have been no help, ruling that he has no parental rights and custody rightfully belongs to the child’s English mother.
The determined father has collected a mass of evidence which he says proves that his ex made an elaborate plan to kidnap the child. The despairing dad says he found a document on a laptop, allegedly written by the ex-girlfriend to a friend, describing her plan to give birth and then leave. In court papers he accuses her of conspiring with others to pull off the kidnapping. The only hope he has for bringing his daughter home lies with the Texas court system where he wants to introduce a “mountain of evidence” proving the case belongs here.
The custody battle has already cost him at least $75,000 as well as his peace of mind. He kept his daughter’s room exactly as it was before she was taken. Some nights he sleeps in her room, to feel closer to her. Even if he succeeds with the appeal, moving the custody case to Texas from London will be no easy matter. The legal battle will almost certainly continue for years to come.
Source: TheCW33.com, “Plano father locked in international custody dispute alleges fraud, kidnapping,” Dawn Tongish, Sep. 18, 2012