Zane's Page

This is my son Zane. Legally he is my step-son but in my heart, he is my son. Zane is almost 2 in this picture, and he is 6 today. This is one of the last pictures that we had of Zane, as he was abducted by his natural mother and now lives in Germany with her. We located Zane and his mother and went through a year long court battle to regain custody. Unfortunately, Germany will not return Zane to us, but we do have communication and visitation rights. We are currently sending letters back and forth and establishing a relationship with Zane. We hope to visit him next year. Zane loves to swim and is taking several swim courses and doing very well in them. He will start school this year.

I wanted to make this page, to provide some information to others who have had the misfortune of having a child abducted from them. All of the information listed on this page can be found in one or more of the following sites, I took parts of some documents to give you a quick reference.

There is one thing you need to remember when coming to this page, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! There are thousands of people going through the same thing you are, and there are resources out there to help you.

Sometimes a parent feels they are vunerable to their child being abducted. If you feel this is a possiblity, here are some things to do that will help if the abduction occurs.

The very first thing to do when your child is missing, is to file a missing person report with your local police department and request that your child's name and description are entered into the "missing person" section of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer.

You will also want to contact the following agency right away. They have resources available for national and international abductions.

Get a copy of Family Abduction: How to Prevent an Abduction and What to Do If Your Child is Abducted

You can also write to them using the following address:

This section deals mainly with International Abductions, but the information here, may be useful in any abduction case:

Hague Convention: The International Child Abduction Treaty Between the United States and other countries

List of Countries who have signed the Hague Convention:

Abduction - Checklist for Parents: This can be used for Hague as well as non-Hague abduction cases.

Passport Assistance to Parents: An important resouce to have when dealing with an out of country abduction

As I am sure you know, this page has been a very emotional one for my husband and I. If we had known of these resources in the beginning, we would have Zane with us today. We want others to have the opportunity we did not, the first 12 months are the most important in an International Abduction case. Feel free to email me if you have questions, need help, or would just like someone to talk to.