A Colorado mother is grateful after her three-year-old son was found in Brandon, Man., just 27 hours after he was abducted.
“I’m just so thankful that he’s safe, that he’s OK and it was so short,” the mom said to media in a video posted on the U.S. timescall.com website Sunday.
The little boy was abducted from his home on Saturday after his father allegedly broke into his estranged wife’s home, physically assaulted her, sprayed her with pepper spray and shocked her with a stun gun, Longmont, Colo., police said.
Brandon police said they arrested the father without incident after being asked by Longmont police to check a motel for the father and child. The boy was taken into the care of Child and Family Services.
“He’s in a foster home for the night. There’s apparently some logistics in getting him back across the border,” the boy’s mother said Sunday. “But I did get to talk to him and he’s excited about coming home.”
The manager of the Casablanca Motel Inn said the man and boy checked in on Saturday night.
“(He looked like) just a normal customer to me,” Bernie Hiebert said. “He asked when check-in was and I said usually 3, but he looked fairly tired, him and his son, and I said, ‘I could check you in,’ and he says, ‘You know, we could use a few hours’ sleep.’ “
The father and son “seemed happy together,” Hiebert added.
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But on Sunday afternoon he saw five or six police units and they swarmed the motel property within seconds.
“I was just at the edge of the property and all of a sudden I saw all these police cars come onto our yard. They went up to one of the rooms. A gentleman came out and they apprehended him.”
The boy’s mother said she’s not sure how much he understands about what happened.
“I did talk to him about coming home and he said, ‘I’m coming home?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to come, I’m going to get you. I’m going to bring you home,’ and he turned around to the lady (he was with) and he (said) ‘I’m going home.’”
She urged other estranged parents to get custody agreements.
“This is the difference between having a custody agreement and not having a custody agreement — nine months versus 27 hours. So everybody out there, if you don’t have a custody agreement, please get one.”
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