When you are in a family where there is a lot of love, it shows in many different ways. Not only do we have the protection of those who are responsible for our safety, we also can guarantee they will go out of their way to make sure we have everything we need.
That fact was beautifully illustrated in the case of a father named Greg Allen. He was the father to a four-year-old daughter named Sabrina and when his ex-wife abducted her and took her away, he knew that he had to find her again.
Even though many years had passed, he never gave up on trying to find his daughter after she was kidnapped. It took 12 years, but eventually, they were able to find the little girl. When police went in to pick her up, she didn’t want to see her father any longer. She had been brainwashed.
Dara Lloren, Sabrina’s mother had an unsupervised visit with the four-year-old girl. After the visit was over, she was told by a judge that she had to give the girl back to her father, Greg Allen.
The problem is, they never showed up and that started the 12-year issue of trying to find the girl and her mother. Unfortunately, it was not a big surprise to Greg, because they had problems during their marriage and he knew that she was capable of doing something like that.
He said: “After we separated and divorced, Dara threatened to take Sabrina away. She made threats to take Sabrina to Mexico so she would never know her dad.”
After a long custody battle, a judge said that Greg would be the best choice for raising Sabrina. He was an engineering research scientist at the University of Texas and was well respected. The custody battle continued.
After Sabrina was taken by her mother, her mind was filled with lies about her father. Dara wanted Sabrina to hate her father, and she wanted to eventually win custody.
Greg said: “Child Protection Service (CPS) grabbed her out of school and took her to a safe spot and asked her questions about Daddy touching her. Sabrina told them: ‘My daddy hits my mommy, that’s a lie my mommy told me to say.’”
That is when things began to get amicable. He explained that there were always problems with the visiting arrangements but suddenly as of that month, everything was fine. He thought that everything was finally pulled together, but he was mistaken.
It turns out that the better relationship was only a trick.
When Greg gave Sabrina to her mother in 2002, it was for an arranged visit. Darrell was supposed to bring her back on Sunday but she never came back again. He said when he dropped her off, she said ‘daddy don’t ever forget me.’
Greg was afraid that something was going to go wrong and two hours after she was supposed to be back again, he called the police. Unfortunately, it was too late and they had already disappeared.
The police were looking in Greg also started his own investigation. They were on her trail and learned that she had hired someone to drive her and Sabrina to Mexico.
At the time, it wasn’t necessary to have documentation to cross into Mexico so she used a bus ticket. Sabrina and her mother were now missing in that country. Greg went to Mexico and vowed that he wouldn’t stop until he had her back again.
In 2003, Greg was close to finding her. They were living in Mexico City using fake names. Sabrina was enrolled in school but she didn’t know Spanish. She would just sit there and cry because she couldn’t understand what anyone was saying.
Sabrina was also in tears during the week of Father’s Day, asking that the teachers help her find her dad. The teachers were confused at first, thinking that she didn’t have a father. That is when Sabrina told them what happened.
“He lives in Texas, help me find him. I’m supposed to live with him. He has my picture on the internet,” the frightened girl told the teacher.”
Sabrina’s teacher got in touch with Greg through email. He was living in Mexico at the time only 30 minutes away. He contacted the police and thought that they would go get his daughter. Unfortunately, the two escaped.
The teacher ended up losing her job because Dara lied and said that Greg was an abusive father. The school believed her.
It was upsetting but he continued to search for 12 years. Everything he had was being put into the hunt for his daughter and he spent his life savings to find her.
The case even made the television show America’s Most Wanted, and a $20,000 reward was offered for any information that led to her return.
Eventually, Greg fell in love with another woman and they got married. She stuck by his side as he searched for Sabrina. They also have three children of their own.
Eventually, a private investigator was given a tip and found Sabrina. She was 17 years old by that time and had learned a new language and been forced to color her hair. She didn’t show signs of physical harm, so they brought her back to United States.
The mother was arrested and sentenced to two years for the charge of interfering with child custody and six years for aggravated kidnapping.
Unfortunately, when they delivered Sabrina to him, she didn’t want to see him. She had not been physically harmed but her mother had brainwashed her into thinking that her father was a bad guy. She didn’t want to meet him face-to-face.
“Sabrina has been under an intense campaign to hate me for 12 years,” he said. “She was effectively a prisoner in a two-bedroom apartment. She has been told that I didn’t want her and that I committed suicide.”
It took some time but he continued to stay the course. Eventually, they were able to spend some time with each other and go to counseling. They had been working on their damaged relationship.
We live in a world where things are difficult and hopefully, it will get better for this father and daughter.