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 On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said that an indictment
had been unsealed charging Dorothy Lee Barnett, 53, with
international parental kidnapping and making a false statement on a
passport application.
Her daughter, Savanna Catherine Todd, now 20, was in Australia,
living a normal life, Nettles said.
Barnett did not have custody of her then 10-month-old daughter when
she left in 1994 from Isle of Palms, Nettles said. At the time,
police said Barnett left for a birthday party with her daughter and
never returned. In 1993, she had filed for divorce from her husband,
Bowling Green, Ky., native and former Charleston stockbroker
Benjamin Harris Todd III.
Authorities said Barnett was located in Australia earlier this month
and had been living under several aliases.
Federal authorities have not given details on how they tracked
Barnett down. In a news release, Nettles said federal law
enforcement agencies from the U.S. and Australia cooperated on the
case.
Court papers show that an arrest warrant was issued for Barnett in
1994.
Barnett has been denied bond pending extradition back to the United
States, where no court date has been set, Nettles said. If convicted
on all charges, she could face more than 20 years in prison. Court papers listed no attorney for her.
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Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan, who must approve any
extradition request, said Barnett appeared this week in a court at
Maroochydore, a coastal tourist strip north of the Queensland state
capital Brisbane.
"As the matter is before the court, it would not be appropriate to
comment further," he said in a statement Saturday.
The Australian Federal Police declined to comment on the case.
[Associated
Press]
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