Weeks of court visits yielded no change in the situation, but another man who was in Garson's court caught her eye. Hanimov was released from a police precinct cell, but family court Judge Gerald Garson ordered that Yaniv stay with his father while the other two siblings remain with her. "I thought that’s the end of my life," Hanimov, who was pregnant at the time, said. One day, officers knocked on her door and arrested her after allegations that Hanimov abused their eldest son, Yaniv. In 2002, Frieda Hanimov, a Russian Jewish immigrant, was going through a bitter divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband over their three children. "Both of us were just very happy, like, thank you, we're out of here!" Hotte said. Embassy, Hotte, Miller and Kobe faced risking arrest at the airport.Īfter a long wait, they were able to board a plane and return to the U.S. To facilitate the escape, she put the boy in a girl's wig and clothes.īut they were still not out of the woods. Hotte found Kobe in his classroom and fled to the U.S. "I knew that I was breaking the law by trying to kidnap a child," she said. Together, they came up with a plan.Īfter meeting with the teacher, who provided a map of the school, Hotte, who is Black, went into the school wearing dark glasses, a cap, a mask and even whitening her hands to blend in. Hotte, who never traveled internationally, teamed up with Mark Miller of the American Association for Lost Children, a nonprofit that helps rescue kidnapped children. "This was a mother's worst nightmare."Īfter starting an online campaign to raise awareness and get more information about her son, Hotte got an anonymous tip from someone in Seoul.Īn English teacher at a Korean school said Kobe was her student and that Jeff was applying for Kobe to get Korean citizenship, which would make it harder for the boy to be brought back to the United States.ĭespite warnings from the police that she could be arrested, Hotte decided to go to South Korea herself. "My child was kidnapped, but I can't do anything to get him back," she said.
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