International plea -Abducted Australian child - Andrew John Thompson, 4, April,2008

GRAVE FEARS HELD FOR ABDUCTED AUSTRALIAN CHILD

"Forever Searching" are a group who actively raise awareness of missing children and young adults on a global basis. We need media assistance in raising international public awareness to missing Australian child Andrew Thompson.

In a rare move, the Family Court of Australia has issued a Publication Order enabling the release of information about an international parental child abduction.

Andrew Thompson, now aged four, was illegally abducted by his mother Melinda Thompson (also known as Melinda Stratton) from Australia in April this year.

Melinda boarded a Singapore Airlines flight in Sydney with Andrew and flew to Frankfurt, Germany. This is a criminal offence under the Australian Family Law Act.

They were ‘a no show’ on a booked return flight to Australia and have since disappeared. Melinda’s family have told police and others that they have no idea of their whereabouts and that Melinda had been researching ‘safe havens’ in the weeks prior to the abduction.

The abduction took place shortly after an investigation by a leading Sydney child and family psychiatrist found the mother has an underlying mental state that affects her judgement and her ability to parent effectively.

The Court has also ordered that in any publication a warning must be issued stating that no one is to approach Melinda Thompson and that any information should be provided immediately to local police and/or Interpol.

The Court did this because of alarming concerns raised by the psychiatrist about the potential for harm to Andrew or for self-harm to the mother.

The Australian Government has conducted an extensive international search for the last seven months. Interpol has issued alerts in 187 countries and the Hague Convention on International Child Abductions has been activated.

Both Andrew and Melinda are Australian Citizens, travelling on Australian Passports.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Andrew and Melinda should contact the Australian Federal Police on +61-2-6126-7777.

For further information or to arrange an interview with Andrew’s father, contact: Robin Bowles +61-418-102-732. or mail to urgent@foreversearching who will put you in contact with Ken Thompson

[logbump]

Welcome, Poobear. I sent you a pm with a link to another U.S. site to post info on.

[Ken Thompson]

Hello Rachel.

My name is Ken Thompson and I am Andrew's father. I have not heard from Melinda at all in the past 8 months. I have no idea what country Andrew is in or if Andrew is alive or not. What I do know is that one of Australia's top psychiatrists has found Melinda has an underlying mental state at the extreme paranoia end of the mental health spectrum that affects her judgement and her ability to parent effectively.

He has also found that under certain circumstances she could inflict extreme physical harm on Andrew because her paranoia could convince her that this would be the best thing for him. The threat to Andrew doesn't need to be 'real'; Melinda only needs to form a belief that it is real. This is what caused her to abduct Andrew in the first place.

This is an extremely serious and very unusual situation and Andrew must be located as quickly as possible. Melinda showed no signs of this condition until December 2007 - although in hindsight there were several less severe episodes over the previous 5 years and the paranoia was becoming more evident in the lead-up to December 2007.

Even if Melinda never harms Andrew physically, the emotional damage she is doing to him is severe and life-long. He has been ripped away from everything he knows, including a loving father, a devoted husband to his mother, and his culture. He is no doubt being told that I don't care about him. I've also been told that his mother will eventually tell him I am dead.

This is one of the most extreme forms of child abuse imaginable. His abduction is also a contravention of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and numerous other Australian laws and international conventions. These are just some of the reasons why the authorities here in Australia have taken such unusual measures to have Andrew located as quickly as possible.

I am extremely worried about Andrew (as well as Melinda). Our marriage was rock-solid until her paranoia took over. Unfortunately, I didn't realise what was happening quickly enough to be able to help her before it took over her thoughts and her actions.

If you or anyone else would like to help me find Andrew, I can send you some material that people are distributing globally via email. Every single contact increases the likelihood of him (and his mother) being found safe and well and Andrew being returned to his family, his friends, and his home. If you or anyone else would like to help, I can be contacted on kenthompson@fastmail.fm

Regards.

more research

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=113188


http://www.familylawwebguide.com.au/...php?page=start

http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=8302791804

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...585185936.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/...6671229115889/

Yes, I think it would be a great idea to post photos of the mother.....it would be a great help.

[Ken Thompson]

Thanks for the feedback. The email campaign is part of a much larger media/multi-media campaign that started in Australia on Saturday and is now extending to the UK, Europe, Canada, and the US.

Even though I know there is some suspicion about email campaigns, I felt I had to try everything possible to find Andrew. I've tried to ease the suspicion by including as much supporting information with the emails as possible such as newspapere articles, copies of court orders, etc.

Melinda took most of the photos so I don't have many of her. However, there is one on the following missing persons site and there is one in this link to a newspaper article. The same article also includes a video interview with me.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...006009,00.html

http://www.australianmissingpersonsr...ewThompson.htm

As you can see, the authorities are very much involved in this case but we've now had to explore less conventional avenues.

For clarification, Melinda and Andrew flew to Singapore on a Singapore Airlines flight. They then flew with the same airline to Frankfurt where they disembarked and have not been seen since.

Melinda's family are having great difficulty accepting that Melinda has a problem. I can understand this but I cannot accept their support for her actions. There are also two independent reports from a leading psychiatrist that show very clearly she has an underlying mental state that affects her judgement and that this poses a very high risk to Andrew.

I'm new to the message board so if someone can explain how to post this information I will do it.

Regards.

this is so sad. i hope and pray that they are safe....prayers for mr. thompson.

[Ken Thompson]

Here is a link to another newspaper article from one of Australia's top newspapers (The Age). It was published today (Sat 20th December 2008). I can also provide a link to a website that contains flyers that can be downloaded if anyone on this message board would like to provide any active support to this campaign.

Someone made a comment before about mothers never harming their own children during abduction cases. Today's article mentions one case where the mother killed her child and I'm aware of several others.

Perhaps it's not usual in most cases but when the abductor has a serious mental health condition that causes extreme behaviour anything is possible, which is what the psychiatrist has been warning about in Andrew's case and which is why the court agreed to me mounting an international media/multi-media campaign to run alongside several criminal investigations and the Hague Convention process.

Media releases will be released in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe in the coming days. Let me know if anyone would like copies and I'll post them on this message board.

Here's the link to today's article:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/wh...1219-72eg.html


Regards.

[JD1974]

Excellent idea to get the mothers picture out, her facial structure stands out. Ken does she know anyone in the US, or are the authorities thinking she is possibly still in Germany under an assumed name? I seen that she searched for safe houses, where did the searches lead to, what country..if you know?


I am so very sorry to hear about your son being taken and about your wifes condition. I truly hope they will be found and she will accept the treatment program they give to her.

[Ken Thompson]

Melinda visted the US and Canada on several occasions on business trips. These trips included California, Illinois (Chicago), Colorado (Denver and Boulder), Washington DC, Texas and other states.

In Canada, she visited Montreal and several other places.

There is no certainty that they are still in Germany. The German Police have conducted an extensive investigation for more than 6 months and have found no trace of either Melinda or Andrew. They are of the view that they are no longer there.

When they left Australia, Andrew and Melinda were travelling on Australian passports. Melinda and Andrew could be using Melinda's maiden name of STRATTON.

Andrew might be OK at the moment but that might not always be the case given Melinda's underlying thought process.

I am currently establishing a website and I will post the details here as soon as it's ready.

Regards.

[Ken Thompson]

I'm sorry.....I forgot to answer the rest of the questions.

Melinda's brother allegedly told my lawyer that Melinda had been researching 'safe havens' before she left. One of the countries she mentioned was Burma. If any of you know anything about Burma (it's a military dictatorship) you would see that this is an indication of how extreme her thinking was at that time - and probably still is.

She is also said to have mentioned looking for a country where there was 'no amnesty'. I've since learned she had no knowledge of the Hague Convention at that time so 'no amnesty' could mean a country without an extradition treaty with Australia, but I'm only guessing.

Since Australia has extradition treaties with most developed countries, those other countries would probably not be the 'safe havens' she was looking for.

This narrows it down to the more developed countries such as the UK, the European Union, the US, Canada, South Africa, and parts of Asia.

That's still a very large search area.

Regards.

Does your wife have a profession or trade of some sort that she may be working at. She needs to support herself in some manner.
Also, I found it a bit unusual that you mention "and his culture" in your original post. Are you comfortable expanding on that?

[Ken Thompson]

Melinda has worked for most of her life in the medical equipment field in the area of sales and marketing. She specialises in child ventilation systems (the type used to support premature babies). She worked for Drager in Germany, GE Medical in Germany, and Medtronic in Australia. She was working for Resmed in Sydney (Australia) when she abducted Andrew.

She is also a Registered Nurse and a qualified swimming instructor.

The reference to 'culture' is a reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child where the child's right to grow up within their culture of their country of citizenship is given the same weight to having a right to having a relationship with both parents, a right to a safe environment, etc.

Australian culture is very much like any other western culture but we do have a different history of European settlement that sets us apart - just like every other country has its defining characteristics.

The email campaign that has been established to support the authorities in their search for Andrew and which is part of a much more comprehensive media strategy is gaining momentum.

Several large organisations have distributed the email to their entire workforce and customers. One US organisation has distributed it to 10,000 employees worldwide. Another Australian organisation has distributed it to a similar number of employees and customers and one of Australia's largest banks has distributed it to its employees internationally.

I've received reports of 4,000 emails being sent by one person and more than 1000 by another.

It doesn't matter if someone sends one email or thousands of emails, what's important is that the emails keep moving because any one of them could eventually lead to Andrew being found.

I am also in the process of establishing a blog for Andrew. Facebook sites and Youtube sites have also been established.

Andrew is also part of a UK poster campaign for missing kids on bus-sheds and lamp-posts in some of England's larger cities.

Missing person posters are currently available on-line and these are in the process of being translated into several European and Asian languages.

Media releases are being prepared for several European countries.

Missing person posters are also now being distributed within Canada by Barb Snider and CMPC.

If you're not already part of the email campaign, let me know and I'll send you some material. Every single email helps.

Regards.

[n/t]

Hi Ken,

I'm from Canada and will do whatever I can to get the word out about Andrew.

Hope he's safe and will be found soon. Prayers going out to you during this difficult time.

[Ken Thompson]

If you would like to receive some information for distribution via email, I can be contacted on kenthompson@fastmail.fm.

If you have concerns about contacing me on a public email system I can also be contacted on my work email, which is ken.thompson@fire.nsw.gov.au This is a very secure NSW Government email system.

Regards.

[Ken Thompson]

Dear Evalles

I appreciate your comments but feel I should elaborate a bit more on the circumstances before you form a final opinion.

Melinda had been displaying signs of some type of paranoia for quite some time before December 2007 and I had observed several 'episodes' of extreme responses to very benign situations in the preceding 5 years (our total time together). Unfortunately, until December 2007 I didn't realise how serious the situation was and felt she was occasionally just overly-sensitive to some situations.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing - particularly after a major event like the sudden breakdown of your own marriage for no obvious reason and the subsequent abduction of your own child. I feel a very strong sense of personal responsibility for not reading the signs properly and for the events that have since flowed from that.

In the months prior to December 2007, Melinda had been increasingly expressing unsettling beliefs to me about several people who had interactions with Andrew. These included people at his day-care centre, other children at the day-care centre, children at a local activity centre, and Andrew's own grandparents. In December 2007, I also became the subject of her beliefs but in a much more serious and extreme way.

There was no justification for her beliefs and this has been confirmed by several authorities and independent experts who have investigated into this case.

The psychiatrist was appointed by the Family Court of Australia and not by me. I had never heard of him before I initiated court proceedings. He is listed with the Family Court as an Independent Expert Witness and is one of several independent psychiatrists the court appoints to investigate matters on behalf of the court.

I have since learned he is held in very high regard amongst his peers, by the medical profession in general, by child protection agencies, and by the judiciary. I doubt that any person in his position would favour one person over another since he would be placing his entire professional credibility and career at stake by doing that.

If you think my position is so influential then you should ask yourself why the judge ordered that Andrew would remain with his mother pending the outcome of the psychiatrist's report - despite me expressing serious concerns about her behaviour towards him and asking that Andrew live with me pending the outcome of the report.

I have not been given any favourable treatment by anyone. In fact, I’ve had to fight very hard to get people to appreciate just how serious this situation is because our systems and processes are designed around the more traditional forms of international parental child abduction (ie parents returning to their own countries and to their own families). I have an extensive audit trail that shows just how hard this has been.

The matter was not before the Family Court prior to December 2007. I was forced to initiate proceedings in February 2008 because Melinda left our home and took Andrew with her without my consent and then refused me any contact with Andrew.

I commenced the court action immediately after Melinda wrote to me at the end of January 2008 demanding sole custody of Andrew with no contact with me whatsoever for the rest of Andrew's life. In her letter she made it very clear that her demands were not negotiable. She also demanded I agree to this by consent ie without having custody determined by the Court. To me, she seemed to be acting as judge, jury, and executioner and I didn't even know what the crime was.

Melinda abducted Andrew from Australia four months later (April 2008) a few days after receiving her copy of the psychiatrist's report. She is alleged to have said at the time that she would never allow the court to let me have any contact with Andrew whatsoever, that the psychiatrist was wrong, that the authorities were wrong, and that the judge would make the wrong custody decision.

Melinda then decided she would not allow the psychiatrist's report to be subjected to the usual process of cross-examination in the Court by her own lawyers with the support of another psychiatrist of her own choosing, but would instead abandon the legal process and illegally abduct Andrew from the country purely on the basis of her own beliefs.

This suggests she was in an extreme state and had elected to take the law (and Andrew's entire life) into her own hands.

The initial psychiatrist's report did not suggest that Melinda could cause Andrew any physical harm. It did find, however, that Andrew had a very strong relationship with me and that her denying me any contact with Andrew was already causing him significant emotional harm and that this would continue until Andrew's relationship with me was re-established. At no point does the report suggest that Melinda should not have any parental responsibility for Andrew. Therefore, this could not have been the reason for her abducting Andrew, which suggests another reason more in keeping with her underlying mental state and the extreme behaviours that flow from that.

It was a subsequent psychiatric report provided after Andrew's abduction that expressed more serious concerns about Melinda's judgement (particularly in relation to Andrew) and expressed serious concerns for Andrew's emotional and physical well-being, and for Melinda's own well-being. The report expressed serious concerns about the potential for harm being caused to Andrew under certain circumstances, and for self-harm to Melinda.

This is why the Court issued an Order stating that any publication about this case is to carry a warning that Melinda is not to be approached and that the authorities are to be notified immediately.

I am not a psychiatrist but I know that when experts in any field make recommendations, they should be given very serious consideration. In this case, the court quite properly decided to accept the psychiatrist's advice.

In my wife's own affidavit, she describes our marriage as being 'wonderful' prior to December 2007. Her description of our relationship up to that point is totally consistent with mine ie it was rock solid.

What happened in December 2007 was like a switch being flipped. My wife went from being a person I thought I knew intimately to a complete stranger.

I am not trying to demonise my wife. She is the woman I married, had wonderful times with, had a fabulous child with and intended spending the rest of my life with - a sentiment she frequently expressed to me throughout our relationship as well.

I am as concerned for Melinda as I am for Andrew. The best outcome would be for our family to be reunited so that Andrew can grow up with both parents and his extended family, and for Melinda to confront her demons and overcome this terrible mental state that she is now in. I am still her husband and I will do whatever I can to help her.

This is a very sad case in which a wonderful family has been torn apart by something beyond its control, and in which a very small boy has become an innocent victim who is already experiencing serious emotional harm and is now at risk of physical harm as well.

Regards.

I have read a good deal about this story and I believe you when you say you have both your son and wife's well being in mind. From what I have read, she is an very educated woman.
I suspect someone in her family knows more about her whereabouts then they are letting on.
I wish you the best in your search and pray for your sons safety.

[Ken Thompson]

Many thanks Pinky.

I've been overwhelmed by the number of responses from people like you around the world who are either actively helping with the search for Andrew and Melinda via the global email campaign, Facebook, Myspace, etc or are providing very welcome words of support for the search.

Regards.

Ken, have you set up a myspace or facebook page about your son? If so please post a link here. I will do what I can to spread the word. I am between the Chicago and Milwuakee area in the US.

[Ken Thompson]

It depends how you define 'hurt'. In terms of emotional harm, the answer is yes. In terms of physical harm, not that I know of but I have no idea about Andrew's welfare at this time. However, the authorities and I have been advised that she could harm him (and herself) under certain circumstances. This is why the warning has been issued.

It's fine to say that the past is a good predictor of the future but the reality is that it isn't always so. People's behaviours and actions are often situational - particularly when very strong emotions are involved as they are in a case when a parent who is emotionally unstable believes otherwise untenable actions are preferable to the alternatives.

In any case, based on my experience, Melinda's past is one of extreme behaviours when mistaken beliefs are formed. The problem is that no-one knows how extreme her actions might be under some scenarios. If her current behaviour is any guide, we need to plan for the worst and hope for the best. To do anything less would be irresponsible given the amount of evidence that has been provided by very credible sources.

Regards.

[Ken Thompson]

These are the links to Andrew's Facebook and Myspace pages.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39465030948

http://www.myspace.com/andrewthompsonismissing

The Myspace blog is still under development but it can be accessed.

Regards.

This is the time when Ken, Melinda and Andrew Thompson need a lot of support and help.

All of a sudden this type of news draws out the nit pickers and halfwits and shows their acidic tongues.

Derogatory and distasteful comments directed to Mr Thompson as seen recently on this site should be removed.

If questions need to be asked do so in a tasteful manner, don’t directly attack anyone in particular. If you want to attack any one go to another site.

I noted too that this type of person has been feeding long and hard on the grief of others.

Ken I wish you well and for a safe and happy reunion with your wife Melinda and your son Andrew.

It's only one poster, and its best to ignor it.

Thanks for posting those sites Ken I will forward them to all I know. Please come back and let us know if there is any news at all of your family.

[Ken Thompson]

More than 1200 people have visited Andrew's Facebook site since it was established just a couple of weeks ago.

Several hundred of these people are now taking part in the global email campaign and several Facebook members have translated the material from English into a number of different languages. They have then sent me the translated copies so I could use them as part of the campaign.

One person sent the email to more than 6000 people around the world. There must be many tens of thousands of emails now being circulated in several different langauges. More translations are currently underway.

Another Facebook site is being established for Andrew on the Polish Facebook system as well.

The more emails, the better the chances are of Andrew being found quickly.

There are some wonderful people in the world.

Kind Regards.

Ken.

Originally Posted by Ken Thompson

These are the links to Andrew's Facebook and Myspace pages.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39465030948

http://www.myspace.com/andrewthompsonismissing

The Myspace blog is still under development but it can be accessed.

Regards.

Hi Ken,

First, I would like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to you. I can't even imagine the pain you must be feeling and all the worry you must be experiencing.

I am in Chicago and I noticed you said she would come here on business trips. I will join the above facebook and myspace pages and send to as many people as possible, so that people can keep their eyes out for her and your son.

One question I have is what her financial situation is like. Has she accessed any of her bank accounts since she left with Andrew?

Thanks!

[darcie]

May God be with you on your journey. I will keep you in my prayers. It warms my heart to see a father's love for his child.

[Ken Thompson]

A family member allegedly gave Melinda money some time before she abducted Andrew, but I don't know how much or where it was deposited. The family member is not being cooperative.

Evalles is entitled to her opinion but it looks as though the administrator decided her comments weren't appropriate. I won't say any more about that.

Ken.

[n/t]

Ken,

Your gut instinct must be telling you where you think Melinda and Andrew may be hiding? Out of all the places she could be, where do you think would be the most logical place she could be. Where did she have friends and/or family outside of Australia? Did she have a computer? Cellphone? Were those checked? Did she have credit cards? Separate bank account? How would she have gotten from A to B without a car? Were flight manifests checked? Could she have taken a bus or train?

Continued prayers they'll be found safe and that you will be reunited with Andrew real soon.

[n/t]

Originally Posted by Ken Thompson

A family member allegedly gave Melinda money some time before she abducted Andrew, but I don't know how much or where it was deposited. The family member is not being cooperative.

Evalles is entitled to her opinion but it looks as though the administrator decided her comments weren't appropriate. I won't say any more about that.

Ken.

Is the family member not cooperative with Law Enforcement? Can't they subpeona this family member to give them information they need? If this family member helped her get away by giving her money to escape wouldn't that be considered an accessory to kidnapping?

[n/t]

Originally Posted by n/t

Ken,

Your gut instinct must be telling you where you think Melinda and Andrew may be hiding? Out of all the places she could be, where do you think would be the most logical place she could be. Where did she have friends and/or family outside of Australia? Did she have a computer? Cellphone? Were those checked? Did she have credit cards? Separate bank account? How would she have gotten from A to B without a car? Were flight manifests checked? Could she have taken a bus or train?

Continued prayers they'll be found safe and that you will be reunited with Andrew real soon.

Quoting myself.....I went back and reread the original post.

Melinda boarded a Singapore Airlines flight in Sydney with Andrew and flew to Frankfurt, Germany. This is a criminal offence under the Australian Family Law Act.

[n/t]

Originally Posted by RachelRose

n/t, I think this is more complex than that. If this were as simple as that, they could actually jail the family member for being an accessory to the crime.

This is more complex. I don't think everything is being made clear here in this thread.

Not sure what you mean by that but whatever her reasons were for taking off with Andrew, she broke the law. It's kidnapping and the Australian Government and Interpol is involved.


From the OP:

The Australian Government has conducted an extensive international search for the last seven months. Interpol has issued alerts in 187 countries and the Hague Convention on International Child Abductions has been activated.

[n/t]

Ken, why doesn't interpol have Andrew in their database?

Here's the site I went to and couldn't locate him. Am I doing something wrong?

http://www.interpol.int/Public/Child...earch/Form.asp

[Ken Thompson]

All of the above avenues have been explored.

The family have been interviewed by police and claim to not know where Melinda and Andrew are.

I have thought long and hard about where they could be but I don't have any strong feeling because of Melinda's extreme state of mind.

Melinda lived and worked in the UK and Europe for many years (England, Germany, France). While she was there she travelled extensively through Europe (and beyond).

She also lived and worked in Dubai for a year.

She was a regular visitior to the US and Canada for business, and she also visited Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, etc).

This is why I've had to mount a global appeal.

Andrew's and Melinda's details are meant to be on the Interpol site. I've asked the authorities in Australia to make sure this happens as quickly as possible.

Ken.

[Ken Thompson]

Here is a link to a posting about Andrew on the Family Court of Australia website. I'm still trying to find out why he's not yet on the Interpol website.

http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wc...ndrew_Thompson

Ken.

[n/t]

Originally Posted by Ken Thompson

All of the above avenues have been explored.

The family have been interviewed by police and claim to not know where Melinda and Andrew are.

I have thought long and hard about where they could be but I don't have any strong feeling because of Melinda's extreme state of mind.

Melinda lived and worked in the UK and Europe for many years (England, Germany, France). While she was there she travelled extensively through Europe (and beyond).

She also lived and worked in Dubai for a year.

She was a regular visitior to the US and Canada for business, and she also visited Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, etc).

This is why I've had to mount a global appeal.

Andrew's and Melinda's details are meant to be on the Interpol site. I've asked the authorities in Australia to make sure this happens as quickly as possible.

Ken.

Did she take Andrew on any of her travels or did Andrew stay with you?

[Ken Thompson]

Here is the link to the Missing Children page of the Family Court of Australia website.

http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wc...ndrew_Thompson

I have asked the Australian Federal Police and Interpol to have Andrew's details included on their websites ASAP.

Ken.

I wonder if any of her other family members think that se was acting strange. If they noticed that then I would hope they would come forward for the sake of the child.

[Ken Thompson]

Andrew stayed with me when his mother went on international business trips. She did three of these during 2007, the last of which was in October 2007.

The three of us spent 3 months in Europe when Andrew was 9 months old.

Ken.

[CHICANA]

Originally Posted by Ken Thompson

Here is a link to a posting about Andrew on the Family Court of Australia website. I'm still trying to find out why he's not yet on the Interpol website.

http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wc...ndrew_Thompson

Ken.

I would think the police would do this. Was an amber alert issued ?

[CHICANA]

Originally Posted by RachelRose

Thank you, Red for finding and posting all these links. News articles posted right up front are SO HELPFUL in determining what is a scam and what isn't.

If you are in contact with Mr. Thompson, what he also needs to do that would be profoundly important is a photo of the mother. This child is fairly common looking, and a photo of the mother would help tremendously.

I'm sorry if I came off harshly, his approach was very odd and unusual, and typical of internet scams.

There are details that are inconsistent that probably would be best to clear up, like whether she flew to Germany on Singapore Airlines, or did she fly to Singapore and then Germany.

At any rate, prayers this precious boy is found and returned, and clear information is the way to do it.

And, as always, there is another side to the story. Her family and friends state she isn't mentally ill. My guess is they do know where she is and aren't telling so that she can keep custody. Just a guess. Another sad product of a vicious custody dispute that seeks to cut a parent out of the picture.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...585185936.html

Does it seem strange that a woman at her age with her education and work history would become mentally ill to the point she might harm her child within such a short time frame and at the same time she's going through a custody battle ?