This was the Jordanian guy that deserted the military and defected to the US where he met what would become his wife in Texas. They had a beautiful daughter named Shafaa that was very similar to Jon Benet Ramsey in that she would win beauty pagents and was a model as a very young girl. Defallah then took off with her and fled the US in 1988. In 1999 Shafaa, then 16 reunited with her mother after 10+ years of separation. In the UM update (one of those printed on screen updates), it says that officials are now determining whether or not to prosecute Defallah and they will bring more info on a future broadcast. There must be quite a few UM cases where they never followed up on an update as promised, so does anyone know if they ever charged him?

I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised either way. After all, the police and FBI did get involved after Shafaa's disappearance. However, there was no restraining order or anything keeping Defallah from seeing Shafaa before he took her, so...

Her mom Nancy has a myspace and Shafaa looks beautiful and happy. I'm so glad Shafaa made it home. :)

any link?

So no one knows if the father was brought to justice for this?

Well, there may not be anything to "bring him to justice" for. I don't believe they had a custody agreement, so either parent had the right to take the kid wherever he or she wanted.

So there are no parental abduction laws in place in case a parent just disappears with the child like that?

Unless there is a court order that sets out who is allowed to have the child and when, a parent can't be prosecuted for taking the child somewhere they are legally allowed to go. Sometimes, in cases like this, after the child is taken, the other parent will go to court and get a custody order put in place, after complying with the notice provisions necessary for someone who cannot be found (like placing notice in the newspaper, etc.). Then, when the person fails to comply, they can get the authorities to issue a warrant for interference with child custody. That will allow the authorities to pursue the person and potentially recover the child, but once they are found, whether that type of order and its notice is sufficient to actually prosecute and get a conviction on the charge is a different story. If the person had no actual notice that they were in violation of a court order, they often cannot be prosecuted through to a conviction for violating the order.

Think of it this way. Let's say you had a child with someone, and you were never married to the other parent, and you never formalized any sort of custody arrangement. Now, let's say the other parent up and moved and was totally uninvolved in the child's life. Then, you got a job in another state, and decided to move there with your child. The law doesn't prohibit you from doing that without getting the other parent's permission--you may not even be able to find the other parent at that point. If you are the parent, and there isn't some court order in place restricting where you can take the child or when the child has to be with someone else, you can go wherever you want with the child.

any link?

http://www.myspace.com/nadia007mom

Well, the segment did say that the father "was charged with kidnapping," so apparently he did break a law. I hope he was charged and tried, because he put that mother (and probably daughter) through hell.

He may be prosecuted for other acts.

From the segment Defelah was heavily involved with Islamic extremists. He was also in the military. I would not be surprised that in light of the recent climate Defelah has been involved for more heinous activities.

Hell he may have been in GITMO for all we know. :(

The segment did say he was charged with kidnapping, however the update stated they were trying to decide if charges would be brought against him. The reunion happened before 9-11....but it's still possible he could have been charged with stuff from his other activities or even the kidnapping itself as well

Why did he kidnap her?

Female genital mutilation is common in Jordan (where he said he took Shafaa). Did he really take her to Jordan?

http://www.myspace.com/nadia007mom

Link is still good! some nice photos there :)

According to some of the photos, Nancy (the Mum) lived in Jordan sometime actually.