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Father of kidnapped boys fighting Costa Rica authorities to bring them home

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June 14th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com)  Tom Walker, the father of two boys kidnapped by their non-custodial biological mother, is now fighting to bring the children home to Texas from Costa Rica.

 

Ealier this week, Walker was able to visit his children for the first time since the kidnapping, though the family told Fox News Latino that Walker is only being permitted one-hour visits with the boys, who Costa Rican authorities are keeping in protective custody.

 

Although Walker was granted legal custody of the boys by U.S. authorities, Costa Rican authorities are demanding to review the parents’ divorce and custody paperwork from the United States.  Authorities are also demanding that the paperwork be officially translated from English to Spanish.

 

“We thought they’d be back in 24 hours,” grandmother Alice Denson told Fox News Latino. “They were in custody. Their father had passports, they have tickets. They have everything. We didn’t realize that it was going to be this difficult.”

 

The Walker family says it has no idea how much longer the boys will be in Costa Rica, and have been posting updates on a Facebook page called “Bring Home the Walker Boys.”

 

The father of the boys reported them missing on May 31st, after he said the boys’ mother kept them longer than she was supposed to for a scheduled visit.

 

Over the years there have been a number of cases of parental kidnappers fleeing to Costa Rica.  Costa Rican authorities have been known to take such cases upon themselves, in some cases shielding the parental kidnapper from U.S. authorities.

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  • Darylle

    This is such a farce. Costa Rica repeatedly interferes with international cases and foreign criminals are permitted to hide here from their homeland authorities. So if I understand correctly here…the mother and current husband are in CR prison and the father (and custodian guardian (legally) of the kids) is only permitted to see them 1hr a day? Someone needs to step up and tell Costa Rica to mind their own business. This was the case with me – they ruled on my Canadian marriage, between two Canadian citizens, married in Canada, still legally married and they even went as far as to try and tell me I had to pay alimony and if not…prison. What they would have based alimony off of for two Canadian tourists is beyond me but it didn’t matter. They did it anyways. My Canadian lawyer told me had that been two Tico tourists in Canada the court (not judge – wouldn’t get that far) would’ve told them to go home and deal with their own problems there. Foreign family law is not something Costa Rica should involve themselves in as its clearly none of their business. As for those two boys…they need to be with their father where they belong not in the custody of the notoriously corrupt CR officials surrounded by strangers who speak in a different language. I feel terrible for those two kids.

    • Tj Sessions

      Do you have any idea WHY they do this?? I don’t get what the motivation is for CR to get their fingers into this family’s business. Financial gain? Political statement? (middle finger to USA) I know why this stuff happens in the US but so far am unaware if there are parallels here in CR. IMO, this ‘protective custody’ is kidnapping, pure and simple!

      • Ken Morris

        Why CR would do this is a good question, which for myself I have answered by (a) the usually large discrepancy between the country’s ideals and its practices, and (b) xenophobia. Legislatures, judges, and others are forever spouting high ideals like pacifism, environmentalism, and human rights even though everyday practice falls way short of the ideals. Giving CR a foreign family case is like throwing raw meat to a hungry lion: CR authorities nosedive at it as an opportunity to express their ideals. Of course, at base they also believe they’re better than everyone else, so they often refuse to credit foreign judges or laws with legitimacy. It’s all pretty sickening.

  • Lori

    Parents do this because the US Family Court System is a joke, child support is a free paycheck to your ex. Do you truly not understand a parent wanting to actually BE a parent and raise their kid? It’s amazing these families can flee to Costa Rica and don’t need child support, but returning those kids back to the US simply warrants a paycheck back to the custodial parent. Parents wouldn’t steal their own children if there was another way. The better parent isn’t the one with money, the better lawyer or the advantage in the court room – the better parent removes the child(ren) from an abusive/toxic situation for peace … If you don’t think custodial/divorce proceedings destroy children – you’re very wrong. You can spend $100K in 2 years on BS custodial litigation and motions or you can take that money, disappear and invest it in being with and raising your children out of a war zone. It will happen more and more …

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