Diplomatic Security Helps Locate Abducted Child in Jamaica

An abducted Minnesota child was located in Jamaica on May 27after representatives from the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs and agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security acted on a tip provided by a Jamaican teacher at a local school. Authorities found the child and discovered that the non-custodial father was wanted on a felony warrant by the Minneapolis Police Department on parental kidnaping charges.

On May 21, a Jamaican teacher contacted consular officers at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston regarding an American citizen child out of concern for the child. The teacher had discovered a missing children’s alert for the child on the web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Jamaican officials and Diplomatic Security agents safely took custody of the child at the local school. Consular officials in Jamaica and Washington assisted with the return of the child to the United States on May 28.

The father turned himself into the Jamaican National Police on May 27. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security coordinated with Minneapolis Police Department officials on the return of the father to the United States by two Deputy U.S. Marshals and one Jamaican National Police officer to face felony parental abduction charges.

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