On National Missing Children’s Day, the FBI shines a light on international parental kidnapping — what it is, how it happens, and exactly what to do if it happens to you.
Every year, children are wrongfully removed from or kept outside the United States in violation of a parent’s custodial rights. These cases cross oceans, diplomatic borders, and legal systems — and they are more common than most families realize. From 2024 to the present, the FBI has worked on 145 international parental kidnapping cases involving U.S. children.
On National Missing Children’s Day, the FBI is raising awareness about these cases — and giving parents the information they need to protect their children and respond quickly if the unthinkable happens.
What Is International Parental Kidnapping?
Under federal law — specifically Title 18 U.S.C. 1204, the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1993 — international parental kidnapping is defined as a parent or guardian who removes or attempts to remove a child under the age of 16 from the United States with the intent to obstruct the parental or custodial rights of another parent or guardian. That includes full custody, partial custody, and visitation rights. A conviction carries up to three years in prison and a fine.
The law does make exceptions. A parent fleeing domestic violence, or a parent unable to return a child due to an unforeseen circumstance like a flight cancellation — who notifies the other parent within 24 hours and returns the child as soon as possible — falls into a different category that the FBI treats as an investigative lead rather than an automatic criminal matter.
How It Happens
FBI Special Agent Ingrid Arbuthnot-Stohl of FBI Seattle has worked these cases and identified the most common scenarios. International parental kidnappings often occur during a heated marital dispute, in the early stages of separation or divorce, or during the waiting period for a court custody order.
A foreign national raising a child in the U.S. may feel they have more family support abroad and decide to return. A recently divorced parent without financial resources to fight for custody in court may leave the country instead. And sometimes, Arbuthnot-Stohl says plainly, it is pure spite — treating the child as a commodity in revenge against the other parent.
“You need to reiterate over and over again that your child should not be used in your dispute,” she said. “Your child is not a person or a token or something to be used as bait for the other parent. This is your child who has feelings and has friends and a home and a heart, and your child deserves to be taken care of and respected.”
Why These Cases Are So Difficult
Once a child crosses into another country, the FBI’s legal authority stops at the border. Every country has its own framework for parental and children’s rights. A U.S. custody order may not be recognized on foreign soil. What constitutes a crime in the United States may be treated as a private parental dispute in another country.
The legal complexity increases significantly when the child holds dual citizenship — which Arbuthnot-Stohl says is true in nearly all the cases she has seen. The FBI works closely with the U.S. Department of State to find diplomatic solutions, and cases involving countries that have signed the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction are easier to navigate. The Hague Convention, implemented in 1983, provides a legal framework for the return of children wrongfully taken across borders, and more than 100 countries have signed it. Countries that have not signed it present far greater challenges.
The Impact on the Child
International parental kidnapping is not a civil inconvenience. It is a traumatic event for the child at the center of it. Children may experience initial shock from a new country, language, and culture. They may be moved repeatedly and forced to assume a new identity. They lose contact with friends, extended family, and the life they knew. Over time, they may develop an unhealthy attachment to the taking parent, or a distorted view of the searching parent shaped by the abductor’s narrative. The psychological consequences can last a lifetime.
Steps to Prevent It Before It Happens
There are concrete steps parents can take during a custody dispute to reduce the risk of international abduction. In a temporary custody agreement, parents can include travel restrictions — prohibiting international travel before a certain age, or requiring that the child’s passport be held by one parent.
The U.S. Department of State offers the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program — a free service that notifies a parent or legal guardian when someone applies for a U.S. passport for their child.
If you learn that the other parent intends to travel internationally with your child without permission, you can file a notice with the airline stating you are in a custody dispute and the child does not have your permission to travel. You can also contact the foreign country’s consulate. If the taking parent attempts to obtain a foreign passport or claims one is lost and seeks a renewal, you can notify that consulate of the custody situation.
What to Do If Your Child Has Been Taken
If you believe your child has been abducted internationally — or is about to be — do not wait. Contact law enforcement immediately. It is far easier to recover a child from an abduction in progress than after they have left the country.
File a police report with your local law enforcement — city, county, or whatever jurisdiction applies. You can simultaneously file a federal report to bring the FBI into the case faster. When filing, have the following ready: your birth certificate, the child’s birth certificate, the taking parent’s birth certificate, any legal documentation of your custodial rights, copies of passports for both the child and the taking parent, recent photographs of both, any flight information or airlines you are aware of, bank information, phone numbers and addresses for family members abroad, social media accounts, and any relevant emails or text messages.
Once law enforcement is involved, Arbuthnot-Stohl urges patience. “There are so many things in IPKs that happen behind the scenes that we might not discuss because those are highly sensitive matters with other countries,” she said. “But I promise we are working to bring your child home.”
FBI Support for Searching Parents
FBI Victim Services assigns a victim specialist to every international parental kidnapping case — a professional trained to provide emotional support, crisis intervention, clear communication about the investigation’s progress, and referrals to mental health, medical, and legal services. The victim specialist advocates for both the searching parent and the missing child throughout the investigation, all the way through reunification.
“It’s about creating a safe space for the searching parent to tell, in their own words, what they’re going through,” said Rose Pierro Arthur, victim specialist at FBI Seattle. “We prioritize the safety, the well-being, and the rights of the victims at every step.”
How to Report
If you suspect a child has been internationally abducted, contact your local law enforcement immediately. You can also file a tip with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issues international missing child alerts and coordinates with INTERPOL — report to NCMEC at missingkids.org or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
For information on the Children’s Passport Issuance Alert Program and additional prevention resources, visit travel.state.gov.
