Mary Ellen receives a Certificate of Merit
from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children December 2005 I received a call from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 1 I’ve been on their list now for several years. This was the first time, however, that they had called and asked me to consider a pro bono case. The child in question, Isabelle, was a seven year old girl who was born in Kansas City Missouri but had lived all her life in Mexico with her mother. Her father had moved back to Kansas City with his family. It was pretty clear that none of them were here legally except Isabelle and since she had been kidnapped by her father’s sister, she wasn’t supposed to be here either. My sister in law speaks fluent Spanish. Through her, I was able to communicate with the mother in Mexico. I had an old address for the aunt in Wyandotte County. I naively believed that the best place to look for her was in the school system. With Frank Martin serving as Wyandotte County local counsel, I filed the pleadings. The Honorable George A. Groneman was assigned. He was wonderful. Having had CINC cases, he insisted that we establish as a fact where the child was before we tried to serve the warrant. I worked to subpoena the school records of both Wyandotte County schools and the archdiocese. I made arrangements with the National Center for a pro bono private detective to try to track her down. I thought I was hot on the trail when I received a call from a man, speaking English about as well as I speak Spanish who said he had Isabelle and would I come pick her up that afternoon. We agreed to meet at his church. My husband, who speaks very good Spanish, came along. The man who called was the ex-husband of Isabelle’s paternal aunt, the woman who kidnapped her. This woman had gone to jail on drug related charges. Her parents had gone to Mexico to renew their visas and the birth father’s new wife wanted nothing to do with a seven year old girl. They had passed her from house to house. She wasn’t going to school and had been hotlined by neighbors twice because she was left alone all day. I was amazed that social services had not made the connection with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children but they did not. There’s a political issue for someone to explore. This ex-uncle in law had talked to her and found out where her mother lived. He called her mother who told him to call me. This gentleman was a good man with three small children. His wife, however, didn’t want to foster a fourth child. The uncle had gone to the thrift shop and filled a huge suitcase with lots of clothes. They were mostly slacks with no night clothes and no shirts. We had to make several trips to Wal-mart. I learned about the Bratz Pack, not something I really wanted to know. Isabelle was concerned that there would not be a Wal-Mart close to her home in Mexico. We talked to the judge about foster care for Isabelle while we figured out how to transport a seven year old to Mexico. Finally my husband and I decided to foster her ourselves for what ended up being about a week. As a practice tip, we had chain of custody affidavits, notice to social services and every court order that Judge Groneman, Frank, and I could think of. We planned to either have her to Mexico or in school within a few days. It was, however, a challenge for two old grandparents to have a seven year old living in the house. Our five year old granddaughter spent a lot of time with her. We managed to get a certified copy of her birth certificate. Mom wired us the money for a one way plane ticket and then we found out that a seven year old cannot travel internationally except on a non-stop flight. The closest place to fly non-stop to Mexico is out of Dallas – Ft. Worth. At that point we had a choice of either keeping her until she turned 8 (July), putting her in foster care, or driving her to Dallas. We decided to go down to Dallas and visit my relatives and put her on the plane to Mexico. We put her on that plane. The same afternoon, we were eating lunch with my cousin when I got the call on my cell phone with the words, "Isabelle está aquí, Isabelle está aquí." After two years, she was reunited with her mother. I learned a lot while she was living with us. She was completely familiar with all the recent kids’ movies and they all have websites. She and I spent a lot of time emailing her mother and sharing photos. I learned how to delouse someone with very long hair. And I learned how to go online and get translations, sort of. For example, Babelfish.com translates "exploited" as "exploded." So I was concerned that someone would come knocking on my door to ask about exploding children being shipped on a flight to Mexico. I also learned that one can wire money not just from Kansas to Mexico but the other way around. I spent about 50 hours on this. I have a judgment against several folks in Wyandotte County but have no idea how to serve them and even if I do, I’m sure that they are judgment proof. My husband, his sister, Frank, and even my granddaughter were part of the team to get Isabelle back to her mom. She’s doing well. In all, it was a blessing. 2
1 The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is the clearing house in the United States for cases arising from The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague. 2 For her work on this case, Mary Ellen received a Certificate of Merit from the National Center for Missing Exploited Children. My practice covers all of Johnson County, Kansas, including Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, Mission, Mission Hills and the entire Shawnee Mission area. If you are a resident of Johnson County, Kansas, and need realistic, cost-effective counsel on a divorce or domestic relations matter, contact me for a free consultation. Mary Ellen Rose Law Firm
10561 Barkley, Suite 510
Overland Park, KS 66212
Phone: (913) 381-6400
Fax: (913)341-0007
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