Her husband had taken their young daughter to Iran....
She was determined to get the child back
By Del Quentin Wilber, WashPost, Updated: April 4, 2013
FOR TWO YEARS, Jodi Homaune was consumed by one thought: getting her daughter back. The mother’s ordeal began shortly after her 6-year-old girl boarded a flight bound for what was supposed to be a six-week trip with her father to his homeland of Iran. But the father refused to return, and weeks soon stretched into agonizing months.
At first, there were excuses about visas and paperwork, then the father abandoned all pretense, saying simply he had no plans to return. It was not long before the calls turned menacing, with the father demanding cash in exchange for granting Homaune time on the phone with her daughter while threatening to sell the girl on the black market or to send her home “in a box.”
Feeling defeated and helpless, with her daughter 6,400 miles away from their home, Homaune turned to the only authorities who could help: the FBI. What happened next is the stuff of which Hollywood thrillers are made. Homaune’s story, as revealed in lengthy interviews with her, her relatives and an FBI agent, and as described in her journal entries and court filings, provides a detailed portrait of a mother’s determination to retrieve the one thing she cherished most.
More than that, the saga provides a window into the emotionally fraught and complex journeys endured by the hundreds of American parents whose children each year are abducted and taken overseas by a foreign parent. Such abductions can last for weeks, or years. Each parent handles the turmoil differently. And while some become paralyzed by the fear of never seeing their boy or girl again, others, like Homaune, take matters into their own hands.
(More here.)
By Del Quentin Wilber, WashPost, Updated: April 4, 2013
FOR TWO YEARS, Jodi Homaune was consumed by one thought: getting her daughter back. The mother’s ordeal began shortly after her 6-year-old girl boarded a flight bound for what was supposed to be a six-week trip with her father to his homeland of Iran. But the father refused to return, and weeks soon stretched into agonizing months.
At first, there were excuses about visas and paperwork, then the father abandoned all pretense, saying simply he had no plans to return. It was not long before the calls turned menacing, with the father demanding cash in exchange for granting Homaune time on the phone with her daughter while threatening to sell the girl on the black market or to send her home “in a box.”
Feeling defeated and helpless, with her daughter 6,400 miles away from their home, Homaune turned to the only authorities who could help: the FBI. What happened next is the stuff of which Hollywood thrillers are made. Homaune’s story, as revealed in lengthy interviews with her, her relatives and an FBI agent, and as described in her journal entries and court filings, provides a detailed portrait of a mother’s determination to retrieve the one thing she cherished most.
More than that, the saga provides a window into the emotionally fraught and complex journeys endured by the hundreds of American parents whose children each year are abducted and taken overseas by a foreign parent. Such abductions can last for weeks, or years. Each parent handles the turmoil differently. And while some become paralyzed by the fear of never seeing their boy or girl again, others, like Homaune, take matters into their own hands.
(More here.)
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