Fugitive mum to give herself up to NZ police

Juliette Gilbert

American kidnap fugitive Juliette Gilbert says she will turn herself in to police on the advice of her Bay of Plenty partner -- nearly three years after she fled the United States with her son.

She is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges of custodial interference, namely kidnapping, and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Gilbert's partner, Tauranga engineer Craig Henwood, 35, today said she planned to turn herself in tomorrow -- after spending one last day with her son, Sky.

"I just said to her 'you can't run or hide from it, just face up to it and we'll get it sorted'.

"She pretty much was just saying she needed time to think it over."

Ironically, Gilbert, 37, had experienced the other side of parental abduction herself.

It is understood that when she was a child, her mother took her younger sister to Canada for several years.

In her own case, an FBI agent has been sent to New Zealand to track Gilbert down.

US Embassy public affairs counsellor Roy Glover said the FBI rarely publicised information about fugitives but had done so out of concern for Sky.

"The FBI specifically asked us to divulge information," he said.

Gilbert fled Bainbridge Island, Washington state, in April 2002, during a custody battle with husband, Roby Gilbert.

She has been living in the Bay of Plenty for 10 months.

Mr Henwood said he knew where Gilbert was hiding but would only say she was "camping out up north".

Police Commissioner's office spokeswoman Sarah Martin said Gilbert was wanted on a police warrant in the US.

"New Zealand police will not be actively involved in this case until appropriate court orders are provided," she said.

"It is understood the FBI is seeking to arrange such documentation."

Once the documents were received, a decision would be made on how to proceed, she said.

One possibility was that Sky could be placed in Child Youth and Family care until the matter was resolved.

Detective Lori Blankenship, of the Kitsap county sheriff's office in Washington, has dealt with the case since Gilbert's disappearance.

Her office had been in regular contact with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US throughout that time.

She learned of Gilbert's location last week after Gilbert fled her Bay of Plenty home.

Once mother and son were extradited to the US, they would initially be dealt with by the courts.

She said most cases involving a child's safety were resolved without charges being laid.

"We are hoping to work out some kind of parental plan."

Following the disappearance of his wife and son, Mr Gilbert searched the internet, researched parental abduction cases and kept in regular contact with investigators.

He was reported to have had maps of the US, Canada and the world tacked to his wall marking out possible locations and made copies of dozens of FBI and police documents.

Details of Sky's disappearance also featured on US television.

However, Ms Blankenship said Mr Gilbert had eased off since hearing his wife and child had been tracked down.

"He's waiting for direction because he just wants his son back," she said.

Mr Gilbert had been advised not to talk to the media but did speak to Washington newspaper The Sun in November 2002.

Mr Gilbert was quoted as saying: "It's a constant torment of wondering where he is today. Is he laughing? Is he hurt? It's been eight months ... I'll know what he looks like but he's grown. He's probably lost teeth by now."

The paper reported more than 203,000 children were abducted by family members in the US in 1999, compared with 115 stranger kidnappings.

Meredith Morrison, a case manager with NCMEC, was quoted as saying it was a misconception that parental abduction did not put a child in danger.

"In a majority of family abduction cases, the children are not physically abused. But there is definitely some mental abuse just by the fact that they are taken away from a person they love."

Sue Millar, a co-ordinator for Missing Children's Clearinghouse, which has also been involved in the Gilbert case, stressed to the Bay of Plenty Times the importance of ensuring the child's wellbeing in cases of parental abduction.

"Although she (Gilbert) has committed a crime, it would be in her best interest to turn herself in and we will go from there. (The courts) are going to ... try and do what is in the best interests of the child."

- NZPA