VA VA - Isabella Miller-Jenkins, 7, Bedford, Sept 2009

[Cubby]

Custody has already been determined. Janet has custody. If you wish, we discussed and linked upthread, regarding the custody stuff.

Lisa lost custody because she was unwilling to coparent and follow the court orders.

 

[MsFacetious]

Custody has already been determined. Janet has custody. If you wish, we discussed and linked upthread, regarding the custody stuff.

Lisa lost custody because she was unwilling to coparent and follow the court orders.

I know, I have followed the story from day one.
But if you bring her back and put her back with this "evil woman" who is "immoral" and all of that, she is likely to run away.

They can't do that. Custody or not, if she's found, she will have to be eased back into a relationship with a woman she hasn't seen in two years.

So I am wondering how they will handle it... or if they will.
Maybe they will just give her full custody and hand a brainwashed child over to the woman she thinks is evil.
Then that child runs away. Then what do they do about custody?
That is what I'm wondering.

Maybe a specialized foster home? Lots of therapy? Perhaps that isn't on their radar, but they should probably have a plan in place.
I don't think this will be as simple as finding her, bringing her back, giving her to Janet and they live happily ever after.

I also wonder about Lisa getting visitation later. Unless I missed it her parental rights haven't been terminated.

 

[Cubby]

Of course they would transition Isabella. She'd need lots of counseling to deprogram her of the parental alienation instilled by Lisa. I don't have any reason to doubt Janet wouldn't do whatever necessary to ensure Isabella get's whatever help she needs. My apologies, I didn't mean to insinuate otherwise and didn't remember who had followed the case from the start. My bad.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Peter Sprigg, FRC Fellow, Suggests Gay Parents Shouldn't Be Protected From Parental Kidnappings

A senior fellow for the conservative lobbying group the Family Research Council (FRC) has suggested that gay parents should not be legally protected against parental kidnappings.

Speaking during Thursday's episode of FRC radio program "Washington Watch," organization president Tony Perkins discussed the issue of parental kidnappings with senior fellow Peter Sprigg. In particular, they discussed the case of Lisa Miller, who ultimately fled the country with her young daughter, Isabella, in order to prevent her former lesbian partner from gaining custody.

[snip]

Meanwhile, the legal proceedings surrounding the Miller-Jenkins battle continue. On March 4, Kenneth Miller, a Virginia pastor who helped Lisa Miller flee the country in 2009, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, according to the New York Times. In 2010, Miller herself was indicted on international kidnapping charges, according to the FBI.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/peter-sprigg-kidnapping-laws-gay-parents_n_2853552.html

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Poor Isabella. Hope she can return home soon.

The last significant article I could find is from October 2014:

"International abduction case has a Western New York angle"

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/courts/international-abduction-case-has-a-western-new-york-angle-20141004

At an age when most girls are thinking about junior high, making new friends and fitting in, Isabella Miller-Jenkins is on the run from the law.

It’s an international journey, authorities say, that began with her kidnapping in Virginia, brought her to Buffalo and eventually landed her with a group of Mennonites willing to hide her in Nicaragua.

Isabella, now 12 and under the alias of Lydia, is believed to be living there with one of her two mothers, Lisa A. Miller, the woman accused of abducting her five years ago.

 

[Margo/Mom]

Poor Isabella. Hope she can return home soon.

The last significant article I could find is from October 2014:

"International abduction case has a Western New York angle"

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/courts/international-abduction-case-has-a-western-new-york-angle-20141004

I was following this case when it was still making news.

Just wondering if anyone is aware of any progress. The child must be 14? or 15? now.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Vermont Businessman Found Guilty of International Kidnapping in Disappearance of 7-year-old

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/09/30/vermont-businessman-found-guilty-international-kidnapping-disappearance-7-year-old

A federal jury in New York has found Virginia businessman Philip Zodhiates guilty of international kidnapping for conspiring to help a woman flee the country with a daughter she had with her same-sex partner.

Lisa A. Miller sought help leaving the country from a complex web of anti-LGBT hate groups, Christian Right activists and Mennonite Amish missionaries. Zodhiates, who owned a direct mail business serving conservatives and evangelical Christian groups, was accused of helping Miller leave the country with 7-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins when he drove the pair from Virginia to the Canadian border in 2009 so they could fly to Nicaragua.

The guilty verdict came Thursday after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, N.Y. A federal and jury indicted Zodhiates and others in 2014.

The current whereabouts of Miller and her daughter, who is now 14, are unknown. Now considered a U.S. fugitive, Miller faces charges of international parental kidnapping and conspiracy.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Woman at centre of bitter same-sex custody battle victim of ‘hoax’ accusing her of selling coronavirus food rations

A lesbian at the centre of a high-profile custody case was the victim of a “hoax” that falsely claimed she was selling emergency coronavirus food rations.

According to the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, Janet Jenkins was the target of a viral post which claimed to show Facebook screenshots of her selling Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs, distributed locally by the Vermont Army National Guard.

The initiative is in collaboration with the Vermont Foodbank, and aims to distribute free emergency food to those left vulnerable because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Vermont State Police, the post has been characterised as a “harassment incident” intentionally targeting Jenkins.

 

[itsmandalina]

Updates in the case!

Now that Isabella is 18, Lisa Miller has returned to the United States and has been detained. as of 5 days ago (2/10/21), Isabella has requested that her name be removed from the 2012 civil lawsuit filed.

Mother in landmark civil union custody case detained on kidnapping charges

Now-adult child in civil union custody battle seeks removal from suit

 

[mlhenn]

Isabella Ruth Miller-Jenkins – The Charley Project

Last updated February 17, 2021; case resolved.

Details of Disappearance
Isabella was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Lisa Miller, from Bedford, Virginia and taken to Nicaragua. In February 2021, Lisa returned to the United States and turned herself in to face international parental kidnapping charges. Later that month, Isabella, who is now 18 years old, filed an affidavit in Nicaragua, saying she was alive and happy and wished to remain in that country, and that she would return to the U.S. when she was ready.