International parental child abduction cases are complex, and advocates say relatively few of the children taken from their countries of residence are returned. But the issues are even more complic…
The Associated Press
Now, three months later, Ukraine is ravaged by war. The city of Mariupol where Alexander has been living with his mother at his grandmother’s home is under siege. Quintana, who is back in the U.S., has lost contact with them and is so distraught he’s considering going into the war zone to find his son.
Efforts by the AP to reach Aslanova were not successful. Email and LinkedIn messages were not returned. She currently doesn’t have a lawyer in the child custody case in California, and a U.S. phone number she provided the court wasn’t working. A message was left on another phone listed under her name.
“Although a left-behind parent in the United States may have custody or visitation rights pursuant to a U.S. custody order, that order may not be valid and enforceable in the country in which the child is located,” wrote April Conway, the department’s branch chief for the office of children’s issues.
Noelle Hunter, co-founder of the iStand Parent Network, said her group wants to draw attention to Quintana’s case so U.S. government officials and nonprofit groups can step in quickly once the fighting subsides. Hunter’s daughter was taken to war-torn Mali, and she was able to bring her home with help from U.S. officials in 2014.
Quintana texted Aslanova and said she wasn’t allowed to leave with the boy; she responded they were at a store. Quintana called police, who the next day told him Aslanova and Alexander had gotten on a flight to Turkey and then to Ukraine, according to the district attorney’s office, which charged her with child abduction.
Quintana said he tried to convince Aslanova to let him take their son back to California and that she should also return to face her legal issues. He said during a November phone call she finally consented and told him that her mother, who had been caring for their son, would bring Alexander to him at his Mariupol hotel.
He and Alexander spent Christmas together and made plans to fly back to the United States before the new year. He said he spoke with Aslanova by phone and she asked him not to leave her behind.
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