101 East: Australia Bringing Them Home

if your child was kidnapped how far would you go to get them back what if it was your ex who took them and went to a foreign land every year hundreds of Australian children are stolen by a parent and taken overseas the efforts to bring them home are costly and often controversial I'm Steve Chow on this episode of one on one needs to rejoin parents in their desperate search for their missing children Patricia Nunez is a parent suffering the emotional toll of living without her children she used to spend summers on the beach with her two boys now such places only bring heartbreak I try not to make things tough I just wanna remember good things you know there's always little triggers and it's always pulls it that hot strings a little bit baton age 11 Nathaniel age 8 loved family time by the water but then came a bitter divorce and a battle for custody last January their father Darwin seen here in this family photo told Patricia he was taking the boys on a short holiday to Disneyland I had a bit of a sick feeling in my gut but Tricia suspected something wasn't right I actually texted Darwin I think it like I think I woke up at like 3 o'clock in the morning one day and I said I just have this fear that you're not gonna bring them back and he just takes it back he goes that's absolutely ridiculous because I'm not in a lot and be an international fugitive but Darwin never brought her son's home they didn't come back I thought he was punishing me I thought he was punishing me and I would just you know keep them away for a couple of months but one month led to another and then another Patricia appealed to the courts for help she hired private investigators to try and locate her boys depression said him the biggest issues that I just missed them so much I was hearing their voice I miss you then laughing I'm just hearing them getting mad at me I just know yes then last March after more than a year of silence Darwin called I'm glad you contacted me you know and I can said I stole mine my price no remains I still would like just want to speak to the boys he admitted he was living with the boys in Taiwan the place of his birth he refused to let her speak to her sons or tell her exactly where they were living saying it would only lead to more fighting I felt angry I felt confused I felt sad I felt numb then I felt victimized this isn't a fan of any yes for Patricia the location of her son's was a bitter blow only if a country has signed the Hague Convention will it help recover kidnapped children but Taiwan is not one of them as the orders that then I I had to get translated so while Patricia has won custody of the boys in Australia she is on her own in her fight for guardianship in Taiwan she's also placed her son's on an Interpol watch list but she's unsure if any of this will help it's it's pain kennedy Cambo is another abandoned parent is the clutch but faced with similar legal roadblocks he's taking a more direct route solar brakes on the lift he's planning to use a motorbike to snatch his daughter back six-year-old Kayla is being held by his ex-wife in Jakarta Indonesia the bike will be their getaway but first he's got to get the hang of riding one it's still not confident I'm very afraid of falling I can see you're really determined to get us right I have to it's going to be very important to five years ago Kennedy Campbell's life fell apart on that day Kennedy followed his regular routine time in the authors then the one hour train ride home to his wife and young daughter I arrived at the train station there was no one to pick me up which I found a bit odd but when he arrived back to an empty house he realized something was seriously wrong I immediately got really worried for they were all fair thinking that perhaps something bad has happened because for me leading up to that moment everything was normal Kennedy spent weeks file a missing-persons reports and reaching out to friends and family who may have seen them then he received these photos it was about almost a month then she sent me an email saying that she had left now I'm going to Indonesia and she needed time to think this really holds a a big place in my heart the only physical reminders can be has a carer are small items from when she was a baby this is the painting that I often look at when I shut myself in the bedroom there the painting is made with his daughter's hand prints I almost in sometimes picture are reaching out to me so when I when I look at it I I see I see her hand reaching out to me and and when I touch it it's it's like I'm reaching out to her so so when I touch it it's it's it's reaching out to me and yeah sorry about it Kennedy once thought he had the dream life he had met a woman he loved they married in a simple but beautiful wedding then came Kaler - this time they steal a lot of questions that still go unanswered for me so I still don't know why Kennedy's wife has since divorced him and she's refused to allow him to see his daughter his ex however continues to send photos they show Caleb growing up fast and settling into life in her new home I miss just holding her hand just just having her hand in mine and just just walking with her giving her a hug and just carrying her in my arms I I craved that moment so so so much Kennedy's made up Kayla's old bedroom in the hope he can soon bring her home every year in Australia more than 300 children are stolen by a parent and taken overseas it's the highest rate per capita in the world but because it's a parent doing the kidnapping the act isn't considered a crime other countries like the US and the UK have made it illegal parents like Patricia and Kennedy believed it should be I think it would be a deterrent the thing they might question it and think well you know and try to actually work it out rather than taking the law into their own own hands because that's essentially what they're doing in 2011 the Australian government launched a commission to examine the issue the government refused a request for an interview on the results but instead issued a written reply in their statement to US government officials say they are doing more to help families but as to whether to make international parental child abduction or crime they remain mum in the matter in all this it's often the children that suffer the most Joanna Fischer was one of them when she was just six she was kidnapped by her mother and taken to Amsterdam I felt like we had to flee and we had to hide from my dad because she painted him out to be a bad person which wasn't the case at all she pretty much brainwashed me from an early age into not liking my dad after a legal battle she was reunited with her father and returned to Australia but she says she's had trouble trusting anyone ever since I always think people could potentially have an ulterior motive you know so I'm always very very hesitant about trusting people and letting them in I guess because you just don't know how they could use it against you despite what she's gone through Joyner poses making it a crime for parents to abduct children it's so dangerous to kind of you know punish the parents who are taking these kids away it's difficult enough to try and get over something like this but then to try and get over it knowing that your parent is in jail it's a lot tougher when legal options run out many distraught parents turn to this man well it's a business we're good at it we have the skills once someone a duck's a child it becomes a manhunt we're after you we will do everything to find you there's a phrase it's by any means a former private investigator call Chapman now works as a child recovery specialist his team is made up of ex-military personnel do you ever question whether what you're doing is right so as for who's right and wrong it's not my position my position is the Australian courts have determined that that child was a bit chilly resident here was abducted from this country and should be returned one of course clients is Kennedy Campbell Kennedy I'm good how are you doing have you looked anymore at any other routes that rather than returning to Australia yes Kennedy has hired call to help retrieve his daughter Kayla and they're ready to make the extraction I think I've covered this with you before very very confident getting Kayla out of the school very very confident getting you guys to the airport don't see any problems Kennedy's case has taken months of planning called as a final review before the next morning's flight thanks Rebecca Indonesia in the capital of Jakarta call Chapman and his team are on the move okay we're gonna in mrs. the estate guys they've located the house where Kennedy's daughter and ex-wife are living they're looking for the best opportunity for Kennedy to snatch his daughter all we're gonna do here is just get out walk down the street vacation they also scoped out a school that local private investigators say Kayla attendance here you'll get a light on the strike no problem there's not distance here to zoom off and create enough distance between core believes this is ready standard best chance Kennedy's waiting in a nearby hotel you're so close to your daughter right now how does that make you feel I'll be honest with you my nerves are just completely out of control yeah my nerves are absolutely shot nervous anxious excited I absolutely can't wait on yeah yeah I just hope that I don't break down and and lose control and hunt able to you I to just you know function do you feel it's right to take Kayla from Indonesia being here the my feelings are even stronger in terms of taken aback the life that's on offer is quite literally drastically different to what's on offer in Australia but as the days go by things begin to unravel so violence today is hopefully going to confirm to us at the school this is the school the child goes to how the child gets out of the vehicle enters the school calls team is yet to even spot Kennedy's daughter Kennedy's spent more than $50,000 to get this far but he's running out of money and time and with her Street surveillance coming up empty Cole and his team are running out of ideas we need to switch and think about some other options rather than focusing liquor school can I help it on these facts you don't want to listen okay listen can I just ask you to do something I do want to listen I've got a lot more knowledge about it than you have can you please shut down can you please shut down I'm trying to think of what to do please please thank you then on day four one of the cameras catches something we ask Kennedy to review the footage it takes him just minutes to sputter I'm sure it's a I'm really sure it's her but I don't want to be wrong it looks exactly like her but they need to be absolutely sure in 90% I wish I could go further but I can't can't see enough of her sure be very awkward taking someone else's child hours after Cole's team is left Kennedy is still looking at the footage everything inside me says that's her everything says that's her the next morning by her house the same vehicle is spotted just outside the school gate a final confirmation is made it's her so what are your feelings at this point Bella just feel like to be honest I just want to go in and let's let's just go there and run up when we need to run up and just take up the call is now thinking differently we can't get away everything bad it's wrong we can't do the recovery at school the security is too tight can I can't guarantee you the Recovery's gonna go ahead I can't guarantee you well that we can never go I can't guarantee the result any longer Kennedy is devastated so what else come home I was gonna do I know you're being backed into the corner by the situation Cole suggests another option send us to go and try to talk to his ex-wife in this scene Kennedy I leaned towards to go sharing with the family I think it's cleaner than offers more opportunity let's do what he's due to be done to do that I'll just pray and hope that they open that door and want to actually have dialogue huh special-ops the disappointment and the strain of the past week proves too much for Kennedy because I know so close did you say we're gonna do as much as we can to get you in that door and I have no doubt they will try yeah that evening we head to the house we're just around the corner from the house right now we're just not sure how queen is gonna react to us showing up there we're gonna try our best to get in and understand why she's telling what she's done there we go guys hello Kennedy's ex-wife Kareena answers hi hello I'm Steve from Al Jazeera television are you are you Karina we are here to hopefully talk to you about Kayla it's very important talk to you right now with Karina well that was Karina just now it seems very obvious that she's not interested in speaking but we're still gonna try and see if we can have someone at the house come talk to us her family runs defense yes are you have the court document it's right here yes just take a look Kennedy is saying that you unrightfully unlawfully took Kayla here that's what he says is that true or is that he's he making it up if you say this on there is support order and I did not appear on the court press much that's really that's why I'm going I'm going to contact a lawyer in Australia and see how this is happening but why isn't Kayla in Australia oh yeah I can ask you this how is Kayla doing let me tell you this Kennedy is here all this time Kennedy's been waiting anxiously in a car around the corner we call him and within minutes he arrives should I go at last Kennedy enters the house where his daughter Luz we've just heard little girls voice yellow daddy hopefully that means Kennedy has just seen his daughter it's been five years an hour later and Kennedy emerges all solid absolutely this is not between me and here yeah Kennedy's a changed man she's so tall she comes up and maybe yeah said daddy I was Kayla everything you imagined she would be I won't anymore pictures yes that was just now that was just that Victor up and I felt big cheese now look at the happiness in her eyes I know I'm questionable you can't question look at her yeah he's so happy well that you can see it's like for the first time she had mom and dad they're complete Kennedy won't be taking Kayla home to Australia but in many ways he says this was a far better outcome offering him and his ex-wife a chance to try and raise their daughter together completely beating out of my chest for some reason because we approached and came now she wants to talk and she said she wants to put a parenting plan together she's gonna allow me access she said I didn't to see you tomorrow for Kennedy it's a happy ending but many other families remain torn apart we're parents willing to do anything to get their children back

Channel: UNICEFAsiaPacific

Views: 28,255

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Id: G0WfORibWcE

Length: 25min 20sec (1520 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 19 2016