Texas Father Arrested After Minnesota Woman Spots Him With Abducted Son on Vacation in Belize

AP ^ | Mar. 31, 2004

[nuconvert]

Texas Father Arrested After Minnesota Woman Spots Him With Abducted Son on Vacation in Belize

Mar 31, 2004

The Associated Press

OAK PARK HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) - A boy allegedly abducted by his father eight months ago is back home in Texas after a woman vacationing in Belize became suspicious about the father and son she met there. Jake Clenney, 4, was the only child at the hotel, and even though his father was friendly and the boy seemed happy, Barb Quinlan said she felt something was wrong.

"Maybe it's motherly instinct; you just kind of know these things," she said.

Quinlan had her fiance pretend to take a picture of her, but instead focus on the man in the background, David Clenney.

After returning to her Minnesota home in February, Quinlan found images of the boy and his father on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Web site. She then sent her vacation photo of Clenney to the Runnels County Sheriff's Department in Texas.

FBI agents went to Belize and arrested Clenney last week. The boy's mother, Heather Clenney, accompanied the agents to the Central American nation and was reunited with her son. They returned home to Miles, Texas, on Friday.

David Clenney, meanwhile, pleaded innocent to a charge of international parental kidnapping. He was ordered detained by a federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, after he waived his right to a hearing.

If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The federal prosecutor declined to comment. Clenney's public defender, Jerry Beard, called the government's case "an interesting story" but "certainly not the complete story."

FBI Special Agent Bill Endorf credits Quinlan for solving the case.

"For Quinlan to be on vacation and to have those instincts, take the photos and then follow up when she got home is incredible. Except for Barb being alert, he would have gotten off scot-free," Endorf said

[nuconvert]

Boy, this lady was on the ball.

[Asclepius]

... even though his father was friendly and the boy seemed happy, Barb Quinlan said she felt something was wrong ...

It was his horns and tail that tipped her off.

[theDentist]

Hmmm... I always thought the US hadn't an extradition treaty with Belize.

[nuconvert]

Extradition between U.S. And Belize

http://www.belize.gov.bz/features/treaty/welcome.html#2

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I'm going to get blasted for this, but I'm going to say it: On another level, this woman sounds like the neighborhood snitch who has gone international.

[deport]

	U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Northern District of Texas 1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl. Dallas, Texas 75242-1699
			Telephone (214) 659-8600 Fax (214) 767-0978
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE		DALLAS, TEXAS
	CONTACT: 214/659-8707 www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn		MARCH 26, 2004

MOTHER AND 4-YEAR-OLD SON REUNITED AFTER DAD ARRESTED
IN BELIZE ON PARENTAL KIDNAPING CHARGES

United States Attorney Jane J. Boyle announced today that David Lee Clenney was arrested yesterday in Belize and is being returned to the United States by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on a federal parental kidnaping charge filed in the San Angelo Division of the Northern District of Texas. Clenney was living in Belize with his son whom he failed to return to the San Angelo, Texas, area in August 2003, after his scheduled visitation. Heather Clenney, Jacob (Jake) Lee Clenney's mother, flew to Belize yesterday to retrieve her four-year-old son and both mother and son are scheduled to arrive this evening at the San Angelo Regional Airport.

A federal complaint was also filed in February 2004 in the San Angelo Division of the Northern District of Texas charging Clenney with one count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. According to the affidavit filed with that complaint, Barbara Quinlan, of Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, who was visiting Belize in late January and early February 2004, became suspicious when she met Clenney and his son at the Coconuts Carribean Hotel in San Pedro, Belize. Clenney introduced himself as "David," and his young son as "Jake." When Quinlan returned home, she checked the www.missingkids.com internet website and recognized the photos of David and Jacob Clenney as the father and son she had met in Belize. She provided a photo she had taken in Belize, which had David in the background, to the Runnels County Sheriff's Office.

Heather Clenney identified the man in the photo as her former husband. She gave Jacob to him on July 26, 2003, to begin his two-week visitation period as they had agreed upon while awaiting custody to be awarded. Until Clenney was located in Belize, Heather Clenney had not heard from David Clenney or her son since that date despite numerous and exhaustive attempts. Heather Clenney was awarded custody of Jacob Clenney on September 18, 2003, and was appointed sole managing conservator with the right to establish Jacob's primary residence.

David Lee Clenney, formerly a resident of the Houston, Texas, area, will appear in federal court in San Angelo, Texas, on Monday, March 29, 2004, at 1:15 p.m. for his initial appearance on the federal charges. It is anticipated that the government will move to dismiss the criminal complaint at that time and proceed forward with the criminal indictment charging international parental kidnaping. If convicted on that charge, Clenney will face a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of three years and a $250,000 fine.

Runnels County, Texas also has a state kidnaping charge pending against Clenney at this time.

U.S. Attorney Boyle praised the perseverance of Ms. Quinlan and noted, "Without her efforts, we don't know when this mother and child would have ever been reunited. She is a true hero."

U.S. Attorney Boyle also praised and thanked the cooperative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and Bureau of Consular Affairs; Department of Justice Office of International Affairs; and the Runnels County Sheriff's Office. Ms. Boyle also recognized the important role of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and their web site. The case against Clenney is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Denise Williams of the Lubbock, Texas, United States Attorney's Office.

###

CLICK

[sgtbono2002]

A nosy busybody goody-two shoes.Sticking her nose in somebody elses business. But of course I dont know the situation or why the father got screwed in the custody in the first place, I assume its the same old story where the Mom automatically gets the kid no matter which would make the better parent. Men get screwed in custody battles all the time.

[nuconvert]

Thank You

[Pikachu_Dad]

Yep, wonderful world we live in where the PARENT ican be accused of kidnapping their own kid.

How about we start accusing the government of kidnapping our kids. That would be much more appropriate.

[mombonn]

Feminine intuition is second only to maternal instinct. I'd like to have that snitch living next door to me in a heartbeat.

[ladyjane]

Are you sure you shouldn't be over in some other forum? A guy does something illegal and you want him to get off scott-free? Is that the kind of 'free republic' you support?

[nuconvert]

She may be the nosiest woman alive, but the point is that she helped return a boy to his legal custodial parent.
He was on the list of missing children. If he were your child and you had legal custody, you wouldn't care how nosey she was.
Not blasting you.

[nuconvert]

Not only accused, but found guilty.
What's the problem?

[Dudoight]

You kind of have some real issues, don't you?

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

A nosy busybody goody-two shoes.Sticking her nose in somebody elses business. But of course I dont know the situation or why the father got screwed in the custody in the first place, I assume its the same old story where the Mom automatically gets the kid no matter which would make the better parent. Men get screwed in custody battles all the time.

Those were my same thoughts. Thank you for putting it in words. I agree with you 100%.

[jimfree]

I'm going to get blasted for this, but I'm going to say it: On another level, this woman sounds like the neighborhood snitch who has gone international.

I won't blast you. My ex-wife took permanent custody of my daughter in 1977. Lisa was 28 years old before we established a decent relationship. I don't blame all of that on the divorce and the custody decree but they didn't help me or Lisa.

[nuconvert]

Not right to assume anything.
The fact is that the kid was listed as missing because his mother is the legal custodial parent. The father knew what he was doing was illegal. He got caught.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I respect what you say. No agrument here. I just have a visceral dislike for the neighborhood snitch like I do for stink bugs or something.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Further through, I do believe the father gets the raw end of the deal in these divorce cases too many times. Preference is almost always given to the mother. Unfortunately, all too often, its all a hate game, and the child and father end up losing one another for years.