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6 months ago
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A DESPERATE mum has travelled 7,000 miles to search for her missing three-year-old son after he was allegedly kidnapped by his dad.
Heartbroken Heather McArthur, 35, said she has not seen her little boy Jacob for four months since he left her care to go on what was supposed to be a one-week trip with his dad.
Heather McArthur
Heather McArthur
Heather McArthur
GoFundMe
Toronto Police ServiceJacob and his dad Jay flew to Vietnam on February 7 and were scheduled to return to Canada on February 15, Toronto Police say.
Heather said she received a “casual” email from Jay on the day he and Jacob were supposed to return to Canada.
He explained their son had experienced a minor flare-up of hives and they would be staying in Vietnam longer than expected.
While holding back tears, she told The Sun: “I just felt a huge wash of emotion, of what I should have done immediately.
“And then… you just come back down to Earth and it’s back to, ‘Okay, what are the next steps?'”
Heather said she flew to Ho Chi Minh City, where Jay has family, in early April and has been relentlessly pursuing her son ever since.
She said: “I was really going around to different addresses and honestly just approaching people.
“I have my son’s face on the phone [screen wallpaper] and he looks quite like me and I would show it, and… some of them would actually recognise my son and realise, yes, he had been here.”
And a private investigator hired by Heather uncovered a chilling photo of Jacob on the back of a motorbike, wearing no shoes, no helmet, and no shirt.
He was with two people who Heather had never seen before.
The Toronto mum-of-one said she went to many police stations – but most “were not interested in taking a report from a foreigner”.
Encouraged by another mum she met while searching for Jacob, Heather set up a GoFundMe campaign to help her cause.
More than 200 people donated, together raising more than $25,000 (£14,500) and allowing her to start court proceedings in Vietnam.
Toronto Police released an image of Jacob’s dad Loc Phu “Jay” Le, 41, on May 7 and requested the public’s help in locating him as he was “wanted in a parental abduction investigation”.
Police said: “The man and his child were scheduled to return to Canada on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
“The man and the child have not returned, and the child has been withheld from his mother since that time.”
Heather said Jay refused to send her a photo of Jacob or the rashes he claimed he had
And he began blaming financial issues – including that Heather had not paid him child support or thousands in legal fees – as the reason the pair had not yet returned to Canada, Heather claims.
She told The Sun: “He said something to the tune of, ‘That would go a long way.’
“Referencing large amounts of money, like over $300,000. My son and I live in Toronto housing back home, on government support.
“Those were large sums of money to be asking for.”
NO MORE LEADS
While going door-to-door with pictures of her son did produce some “leads”, Heather said she had now reached a dead end.
She said: “At this time there’s just no idea of their whereabouts at all.
“I’m not quite sure whether they would be in Ho Chi Minh anymore.”
Heather said she does know that her son and his father are still in the country, based on information provided to her by Toronto Police and her lawyers.
She added: “Unless they left with a fake passport, but their passports have not left Vietnam.”
Some of the people Heather met while going door-to-door gave her “bits of hope”, even if they had no “major information” about Jacob and where he might now be.
She said: “To see people who saw my child feels like I’m on the right path, even though I’m not formally getting somewhere, or tangibly getting somewhere.
“I think when your child’s been missing, too… it’s been so long. My son left in the winter in Canada, and now we’re approaching the summer.
“When I used to open my phone, it was filled with photos of my son as he was getting older, and now that’s just not the case.”
Heather’s voice cracked as she continued: “People back in Canada, whenever they saw us, would always say how similar that we look.
“And so when I hold up a photo, and I can tell in people’s eyes that they know that that’s my son, and I’m his mum.
“I think it’s just a nice moment to be seen as his mum again, because it’s been so long.”
Jacob is still believed to be in VietnamHeather McArthur
Heather McArthur
Heather McArthurHeather’s focus is now on resting and working with her lawyers as she believes her “hard work will begin” when she is reunited with Jacob, as she supports him in “dealing with the experience”.
She said: “I really don’t know what his (Jay’s) end game is. I try not to think about that, because that concerns me.”
Young Jacob loves baking and cooking and cutting fruit – but he is also “vividly empathetic” and bright, his mum said.
Heather said: “He’s just the sweetest.”
Speaking directly to Jacob’s dad Jay, she pleaded: “I want you to bring Jacob home. I want to see him again.
“I just want what’s best for our son, and I know our son misses his mum, and I want to see him.
“I’m here and I just would like Jacob to be peacefully handed over, and for this to be over.”
Toronto Police, which remains the lead on the investigation, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Global Affairs Canada, and the Canada Border Services Agency were all working to have Jacob safely returned to Canada.
The investigating officer told The Sun that “efforts are being made to locate and return the accused to Canada for prosecution”.
Jay is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for abduction in contravention of a custody order.
Cops have been able to confirm that he and Jacob arrived in Vietnam and have not attempted to leave the country.
Case bears similarity to Alex Batty investigation
The case of missing Jacob Le, three, bears a resemblance to that of British boy Alex Batty who went missing aged 11 in 2017.
Alex, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, disappeared after his mum and granddad took him to Spain on holiday but failed to return home.
His mum Melanie Batty, who did not have parental guardianship, took him to Spain on September 30, 2017.
They were due to return to England on October 8, 2017 – but never did.
An investigation was launched and despite extensive enquiries by UK police, and assistance from Spanish authorities, Alex remained missing.
On December 13 last year, Alex was located near Toulouse by a passerby and taken to a police station.
He was 17 years old when he ran away from his mum’s rented home in France hoping to carve a “better future” for himself.
Heather McArthur
Heather has pleaded with Jacob’s dad to return her son to herHeather McArthur
Heather McArthur
English (US)