| Cross Border Custody Battle: 6 Year Old Guate Student Abducted From Benque School |
| Tue, June 24, 2014 |
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Where is Germayoni Letran? The 6 year old Guatemalan was abducted from the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School in Benque Viejo Town this morning - and no one has seen her since. It's a complicated situation because the crime was committed in Belize - but the suspect is her Guatemalan aunt, and the complainant is her Guatemalan father, and the child is believed to be somewhere in Guatemalan. All of them live in Melchor - expect the child's Guatemalan mother; she lives in Los Angeles - and does not have custody of the child. Benque police believe she set up her sister to go and abduct the child at school this morning - we spoke to the OC via telephone:..
ASP Dinsdale Thompson, O.C. - Benque Viejo Police
"The young lady who came to the Adventist school here in Benque Viejo and took the child away is relative to the mom who is in the US at this present moment. What we have found out so far that it is a family dispute and so it's a dispute between the mom and the dad over the custody of the child and that's why the mom we believe orchestrated the abduction of the child. Wherever the child is or who have the child, what we are looking at is the possibility that the child was taken back into Guatemala - that, we are still following up. We do not have any connected evidence on that. We are looking at the personal safety of the child and return of the child so that the child can get on with her education and the mom and dad settle their issue whatever it is. At the moment it is a violation that have occurred on the soil of Belize, so that's what we are looking at as well."
The aunt has been questioned in Guatemala - but they cannot arrest her because the crime was not committed over there. Germayoni's whereabouts remain a mystery and anyone seeing her is asked to call the Benque Viejo police or 0-800-922-TIPS.
Just for clarity, the father is the recognized guardian and he pays the child's school fees. The aunt is not the person who would normally pick up Germayoni. Police say that the child is on record as entering Belize this morning, but there is no record of her leaving. The aunt is recorded at Immigration as having entered Belize and gone back to Melchor. If she re-enters Belize, she will be arrested as a suspect for abduction.
Police are currently reviewing surveillance video from the border looking for a Kia she was believed to have been traveling in.
Police have not contacted Interpol.
Unofficial figures say that as many as 700 students cross the border from Guatemala daily to attend primary and secondary schools in Belize.
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