Padmashini Devi Drees was absconding with boy for the past 8 years.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian-origin woman, who allegedly kidnapped her son when he was just two years old, has been arrested after attempting to re-enter the US, while the boy has been re-united with his estranged father.
Padmashini Devi Drees and her son, Drew Drees, landed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday of last week, after the international flight that brought the pair from India landed on the tarmac. The incident – which allowed the now 10 year-old boy to finally see his father, Dean Drees – is the beginning of the end for this eight-year ordeal that began in December 2006.
According to a press release put out by police in McKinney, Texas, Padmashini Devi Drees and Dean Drees were married, and had Dean before ultimately divorcing. Then, in late 2006, Padmashini took off with Drew, telling no one and giving no indication as to where she was headed, essentially kidnapping her own two year-old son.
A case was filed against her in January of 2007, and Dean Drees officially became a missing child, with law enforcement agencies scouring the world for information on him. In October of 2007, an arrest warrant was finally issued for Padmashini. Unfortunately, details on where she and her son had fled to remained scarce.
A breakthrough came with the help of INTERPOL, who successfully determined that the mother and son were hiding out in Padmashini’s home country – India.
INTERPOL – along with the Department of State, United States Customs and Border Patrol, the US Marshall’s Office, and other federal agencies – kept tabs on Padmashini and Drew until it was determined that Padmashini wanted to return to the US. The reason for why she wanted to come back remains vague – a source speaking to KDFW says that Padmashini simply wanted to live in the US again – but what is clear is that she had no idea that she would be arrested when she landed.
Now, she’s being held in Collin County Jail on $10,000 bond, although the Department of Homeland Security has placed a hold on her that prevents her from being released under any circumstances. She is facing at least one charge of breaking US child custody laws, and is expected to receive at least a handful of other charges, too.
Meanwhile, Dean Drees – who has subsequently re-married and had other children – continued to look for his son over the last eight years. Their reunion at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was a tender and emotional one that marks a happy ending to a bizarre story.