An American father accused of kidnapping his nine-year-old son and sailing from Seattle to the tiny South Pacific island of Niue on a 10-metre sailboat has been arrested after a search co-ordinated by the FBI and New Zealand authorities.
Jeffrey Hanson, 46, an experienced sailor, had been in a bitter custody dispute over his son with his ex-wife and was accused in court papers of being mentally unstable and a methamphetamine user.
He set sail on his sailboat, the Draco, from Seattle in early September with son Billy, telling friends he was heading to Mexico.
The FBI's legal attache in Canberra forwarded missing person and wanted posters to the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (PTCCC), a multi-national law enforcement network of which the Niue Police Department is a member.
The FBI also issued alerts down the US west coast, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska and Mexico.
