Does anyone remember UM's live broadcast?

[crystaldawn]

Hey! I acquired the NBC Unsolved Mysteries Live Special a few months ago in a trade. Do any of you guys remember it? It was 90 minutes long and they had hoped to solve some mysteries while they were on the air and showed several stories. There's one I'm curious as to whether its been solved. A 9 year old boy John Monika (not sure if thats the correct spelling) was taken on 6-13-90 from his home in Ben Salem, PA. He lived there with his mom, Camela Harman, and was taken by his grandma Tracy Davis. Its not the first time she had taken him. Does anyone know if he was reunited with his mom? Obviously he would be a grown man by now but I was just curious if there was an update. Thanks!

[DF Justin]

yes!!! i remember it was on the wednesday night before thanksgiving back in like 93-94 or something. coincidentally, i was thinking about it a few days ago...

[charm910]

Crystaldawn,

Since no one has answered your question in over a year, I will help you out with this one. This is Camela Harman, John's mom. John was brought home through the help of UM. The broadcast was aired on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and he got home December 10th.

John is now 25 and lives in NJ. He has his own company and is doing well. My mother 3 years after John came home was charged and successfully prosecuted for stalking when John was 16. She now lives alone in Bucks County, PA.

I now live in West Virginia and am a volunteer for parents of missing children, when I have time.

We had a couple of movie offers, that fell through, one through UM.

I would love to have a good copy of this tape, if anyone can provide one.

If you, or anyone else would like to write to me, please feel free to at harman-nigh@msn.com

Thanks for your interest in the enormous hidden problem of family abduction, 1 out of 4 families will experience some form of this in their lifetime.

Cami

[crystaldawn]

I sent you a pm Cami. That is such great news about John! Yes I think it would have made a great movie. It had similar storylines as the Jared Peters case profiled on UM where his grandmother abducted him and made false accusations about his mother being involved in satan worship.

[sugarbaby]

I am very curious now on the whole story about John's kidnapping and return(I have not seen this case on UM). Can you provide the details?

[crystaldawn]

Its a pretty intricate case so I just rewatched it to refresh my memory. Camela and her son John moved in with Camela's mom, Tracy Davis, when he was a baby. Camela was going to school and work to try to be able to provide financially for her son. Tracy was known as a very controlling person and she was upset that Camela was working and going to school and thought she should stay home and collect welfare and be with her son. Tracy seemed more and more obsessed with John and one day Camela came home to find all the locks changed. Tracy refused to let Camela see John and went to court and was awarded temporary custody. Camela fought back with a lawyer but it was a year later before she was able to see John. Finally 2 years later Camela was awarded custody of John but Tracy was given very generous visitation. On one occasion she abducted John and kept him hidden for 3 weeks before he was returned. Than another time she took him and they flew to Las Vegas and were gone for 4 months. Camela's sister learned Tracy and John had came back and were at Tracy's mom's house so after a scene where they had to restrain Tracy they were able to take John. Camela was able to pick up John the next morning where she found out he was told by Tracy that his mother didn't want him anymore and had moved and thrown out his toys. After some reassuring John finally realized those things weren't true. Six months later Tracy came to their house in the night and tried to take John again but he refused to go with her. Than I'm not sure how long after that Camela awoke one morning to find John gone. She found a note from Tracy saying she was taking John for the summer and Camela could have a rest. She said she would drop him off in time for school (of course she never did). He had been missing for 2 years when UM broadcast his story.

Of course Cami feel free to correct me or add any details as I'm just going by the reenactment. I was also impressed at how composed you were during the interview given everything you had been through.

[The Third Man]

tygre and I just saw this case. We had to look it up of course, and DAMN! Cami, we are so glad John is safe, especially after we saw this...

SUSPENDED JAIL TERM FOR GRANDMOTHER / TRACY DAVIS, 64, WHO HAD ABDUCTED HER DAUGHTER'S SON TWICE, PLEADED GUILTY TO A GUN CHARGE.

BYLINE: Douglas A. Campbell, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

SECTION: SOUTH JERSEY; Pg. B02

LENGTH: 322 words

DATELINE: MOUNT HOLLY



Tracy Davis, a 64-year-old grandmother who previously had abducted her grandson for 30 months, was sentenced yesterday in Burlington County Superior Court to a suspended jail term on a charge of illegal possession of a .38-caliber revolver.

In return for Davis' guilty plea to the weapon charge, a stalking charge brought against her by her daughter, Camela Harman of Evesham, was dropped.

Judge Donald P. Gaydos told Davis, however, that she was prohibited from having any contact with Harman or Harman's son, John, 16.



As a condition of the sentence for Davis, who lives in Bucks County, Gaydos required her to undergo psychiatric testing and to report her address to the county probation department regularly.
Outside the courtroom, Harman, who was accompanied by two of her three sisters, said that the plea bargain "was the most viable agreement we could come up with."

Harman described her mother as unstable and said that "the potential for violence is there."

Davis' history with violence dates to 1977, when she shot and killed a boyfriend in Bucks County. She was later acquitted of murder charges by a jury after she said it was self-defense.

In June 1988, Davis took her grandson, John, who was in the courtroom yesterday, from his Bucks County home and disappeared with him for nine months. She returned the boy to his mother and did not face charges.

Two years later, she snatched John from his bedroom at night and began an extended vacation with him that did not end until December 1992, when she turned herself in to the FBI after her story was told on the television drama Unsolved Mysteries.

Charged this time with interfering with the custody of a child, she was sentenced in April 1993 to up to 23 months in prison by Bucks County Court Judge Isaac S. Garb.

Gaydos warned Davis that, should she violate the terms of her sentence, she could be sent to state prison for up to five years.

[TracyLynnS]

I don't understand WTH the courts are thinking, taking a child from his mother and granting custody to the grandmother, for absolutely no reason. It sounds exactly like the Bobby and Christy Baskin case.

This boy's mom was going to school and work and taking care of her son. There was no history of abuse or neglect. Then, a selfish, controlling grandparent complains to the court and is automatically awarded custody. It's a legal kidnapping, aided by the court. Unbelievable.

[justins5256]

You're pretty lucky then CD, I don't think I remember this episode. Are you sure it was UM?

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by justins5256

You're pretty lucky then CD, I don't think I remember this episode. Are you sure it was UM?

Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn't on UM...

Wow I see that the the grandmother killed her boyfriend but was acquitted. I wonder if there's any truth to the self defense claims.

[sdb4884]

Watched it for the first time yesterday and it was a very good episode. I've enjoyed the live broadcasts that I've seen on UM like the Alcatraz one was excellent as well back in 1989.

[Oldschooler81]

I just got this in another trade, and loved it. There seemed to be even more tips and updates than the regular eps, they should've done these more often! I liked seeing more of the telecenter too with Stack walking around, talking to the correspondents.

I'm so happy to hear the John Monika case was solved, with his mom posting here a few years ago. Even before she kidnapped John, that grandma really rubbed me the wrong way, with her attitude against Carmen going back to school, insinuating that made her a bad parent. It's almost like the female version of the "woman's place is in the kitchen" crap that men used to pull. It's so frustrating when people can't see logic. And to think she was stalking John several years later, that says something about her mental stability.

[Avante]

Here is an article from April 09, 1993 about it:

http://articles.philly.com/1993-04-0...avis-jail-time

---------------
Woman Who Abducted Grandson Gets Jail Tracy Davis Traveled With Her Grandchild For 30 Months. She Said She Was Trying To Protect Him.

April 09, 1993|By Kathy Boccella, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Saying she had abducted and kept her grandson for 2 1/2 years because she thought he was being neglected and abused, Tracy Davis pleaded guilty yesterday in Bucks County Court and was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison.

In a tearful statement before Judge Isaac S. Garb, a contrite Davis said that her "conscience" made her take 9-year-old John Minieka in 1990 on a 30- month odyssey around the country. Then she apologized for hurting her family and said she hoped Camela Harman, her daughter and John's mother, ''understands and forgives me."

Davis, 60, who sold her Northampton house to finance the trip and used various aliases, said she wanted to plead guilty to spare her family a ''horrendous trial."

"I love John and I believe he loves me," said Davis, who wore a denim skirt, a blouse with a bow and pumps.

Davis, who turned herself in to the FBI on Dec. 15 after the family drama was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, pleaded guilty to charges of interfering with the custody of a child, criminal trespass and concealment of the whereabouts of a child. She had also faced two counts of kidnapping, but those charges were dropped because she didn't harm John or ask for ransom, said prosecutor Diane Gibbons. Burglary charges were also dropped.

Davis had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years. In imposing the light sentence, Garb said he believed Davis thought she was doing the right thing.

The abduction set Davis, who changed her name from Constance Harman after being acquitted of murdering an abusive boyfriend several years ago, against her four daughters, who sat together in the first row of the courtroom. They say she has been obsessed with John, a handsome, charming boy, since he was a baby.

Although Davis said she wanted to make amends, her daughters seemed doubtful there could ever be a truce.

"Nothing's going to replace the time that John lost," Camela Harman said. ''All of us feel that we lost our mother many years ago."

After her statement, Davis was handcuffed and whisked off to prison. With two months' jail time already served, she will be eligible for a work-release program in two to three months, said her attorney, Mel D. Kardos.

During much of her travels with John, Davis pretended to be a real Pennsylvania woman, Sarah Luffman, whose daughter and two grandchildren were killed by her son-in-law, said Gibbons. She sent away for Luffman's birth certificate, then used it to get a passport, driver's license, bank accounts and mail drops. She passed John off as one of the dead children, Christian.

The two spent most of their time in Gulfport, Fla., but visited resorts such as Hawaii and British Columbia. Davis said that she provided home schooling and that the two camped, fished and took frequent walks on the beach.

"We had a lot of fun together," she said in an interview before her sentencing.

No one disputes that John loves his grandmother and had a great time on the road. But in sentencing Davis, Garb pointed out that John "had the right to spend those years at home. . . . You took that from him."

Davis maintains she had no choice but to take John. She said the boy, who turned 12 yesterday, was not safe with his father, a convicted felon who was divorced from Harman and had partial custody. In court documents, she also said that Harman neglected the boy.

Davis raised John until he was about 3 and won temporary custody in 1982. After a two-year legal battle, Harman got primary custody of the boy. In June 1988, Davis took John and traveled with him around the country for nine months. Harman finally tracked her son to a relative's house and got him back.

Davis struck again on June 14, 1990, when she broke into Harman's home during the night and asked John if he wanted to go on a vacation.

Relatives say that John, who lives in New Jersey with his mother and her fiance, appears well adjusted and is on the honor roll despite being out of school for more than two years. He never speaks of his grandmother, said his aunt, Holly Harman, although when he first came home he said he wanted to live with her when she got out of jail.

Davis, who is barred from contacting John, would like nothing better.

"The most traumatic part for me of going to prison," she said, breaking into tears, "is missing John."

[UMFaninMD]

I've seen this show when it was originally broadcast and I've seen it again months ago on the forbidden site.

I'm glad John was found and returned back safely. I will never understand why some grandparents become determined to kidnap their grandchildren away from their parents even when the children are in safe, loving homes---and that the judicial system allows grandparents who are a kidnapping risk or have lied about the child's situation to visit so freely.

Her daughter was only trying to do right by her son by going to school to provide a better life for him. Tracy Davis must be really mentally ill to be so obsessed with her grandson this way.

[hkharman]

Originally Posted by UMFaninMD

I've seen this show when it was originally broadcast and I've seen it again months ago on the forbidden site.

I'm glad John was found and returned back safely. I will never understand why some grandparents become determined to kidnap their grandchildren away from their parents even when the children are in safe, loving homes---and that the judicial system allows grandparents who are a kidnapping risk or have lied about the child's situation to visit so freely.

Her daughter was only trying to do right by her son by going to school to provide a better life for him. Tracy Davis must be really mentally ill to be so obsessed with her grandson this way.

I am Connie Harman's ( Tracey Davis') oldest daughter, Holly. We all agree that she is a sociopath. She never felt any guilt or remorse for anything she has done in her life. Perhaps if she had apologized or showed any admission of guilt, she would not be estranged from her family now. We have all cut her out of our lives and are much happier for it. The fact that after being convicted and serving time for what she did, to go on to stalk John as a teen, just goes to prove that "the rules don't apply to her".