Post by Scumhunter on Jun 3, 2015 7:29:14 GMT -5
(Left: Maria Francesconi (Alleged Parental Abductor) Right: Michael Alexander Reyes (Missing) Credit: FBI.Gov)
Now 7-year old Michael Alexander Reyes was allegedly kidnapped by his non-custodail mother, Maria Belen Francesconi, back when he was only six months old. Below is the FBI's website description of the case:
Maria Belen Francesconi is wanted for her alleged involvement in the kidnapping of her son, Michael Alexander Reyes, from Miami, Florida. Francesconi no longer has legal custody of Michael.
On August 31, 2008, shortly after the birth of her son, Michael, Francesconi travelled to Argentina to visit family with Michael. Michael's father, Miguel Reyes, authorized the foreign travel with the agreement that Francesconi would return to the United States with their son. However, Francesconi never returned to the United States and ceased all contact with Reyes. Michael was located by Interpol in Argentina.
On November 27, 2009, the Civil Court, pursuant to the Hague Convention, ordered the return of Michael to the United States.
On December 21, 2010, the Supreme Court of Argentina upheld the decision of the Civil Court and ordered the return of Michael to the United States. That order has yet to be executed, and the child remains in Argentina.
On March 26, 2012, the Florida Miami-Dade Family Court issued a final judgment, finding Reyes to be Michael's natural and biological father, and ordered physical and legal custody of Michael to Reyes. On June 25, 2013, Francesconi was indicted for international parental kidnapping by a Federal Grand Jury for the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. That same day, a federal warrant was issued for Francesconi's arrest.
Thoughts? Obviously a lot of this rests on whether Argentina will finally speed up the process and return Michael as they ruled to do so in 2010. Michael's father has applied for his return under the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The convention was supposed to be an agreement between many countries to expeditiously return a child who was internationally abducted from one member country to another.
The primary intention of the Convention is to preserve whatever status quo child custody arrangement existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal or retention thereby deterring a parent from crossing international boundaries in search of a more sympathetic court. (Genevieve Kelley anyone?) The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16.
While I am grateful for Argentina capturing former AMW fugitive Paul Escheid and returning him (an entirely different type of fugitive case of course), I wish they would speed up the process of returning Michael if he's still living there. There can't be any argument that Michael belongs with his mother. Both the U.S. and Argentinian courts have now ruled against her. Maria should consider herself lucky if Michael is ordered returned and she isn't arrested as she deserves to be.
Admin Note #1: Based on FBI.Gov and missingkids.org websites our advice for anyone with information would be to contact your local FBI field office or embassy or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST
Admin Note #2: For tips, please still contact the FBI or NCMEC, however, if you had any other (non-urgent) information or other updates you wanted to provide us, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
www.fbi.gov/wanted/parent/maria-belen-francesconi/view
www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/reyes_michael.html
www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/1115605
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_International_Child_Abduction