This story is sad and I wish I knew more details.
In Surprise, AZ, police arrested Robert and Bonnie Embrey after raiding their home. They kidnapped thier grandson, 11 year old Travis, in May 2004 and fled from Bakersfield, CA to Arizona. They are charged with kidnapping and are awaiting extradition back to Bakersfield. They were apparently homeschooling the boy in order to escape detection.
The story raises more questions for me than it answers. The boy they kidnapped is their own grandson. They have legal guardianship of him. But his mother also has court ordered, unsupervised visitation with his mother, something the grandparents have attempted to reverse. They fled the state with their grandson after the judge refused to reverse the decision. Although they left in May, warrants weren’t issued until September. Clearly, there was no real concern that the boy was in any danger. It leaves a sick feeling in my stomach. Is the state better prepared to decide what is best for young Travis than the grandparents who have been entrusted with his care?
I don’t know any more about the case than is presented in this brief article, but I also know from experience what kinds of things it normally takes for a child to be permanently removed from biological parents and placed formally in the custody of another. I can only imagine what the grandparents may fear for the eleven year old, prompting them to move out of state, move at least four times, homeschool him and try to escape detection while doing what they think is best for him.
Of course, I have the same kinds of torn feelings when biological parents kidnap their own children from the foster care system…and probably would if the mother in this case had been the one to take off with the boy. It is a situation with no easy answers. I respect law and order and am not one to go around advising people to defy court orders. But I also sympathize greatly with the grandparents in this case who, at the moment, appear to have taken great sacrifice to protect their grandson from harm at whatever expense to themselves.
And what will happen to Travis? I’m sure he is a ward of the state now.
Related Tags: Embrey, homeschooling, Travis Embrey, kidnapping, foster care
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These cases are so complicated with no easy answers. Irresponsibility has so many trickle down consequences. So very sad.
One of my thoughts, as I was reading your post, was about how frustrating it is to read or listen to the news these days. The “pro’s” stories so often raise more questions than they answer–just as you say!
Another of my thoughts was to stop briefly and thank God that I have never been involved in a custody battle–and to pray that I never will be.
My third thought was that, as is usual, the child will pay the price. Ward of the state? I’m sure it’s so.
Karen…Amen, amen and amen.
And it is always the children who pay the price for the sins of the caretakers.
I have always had more empathy with those few parents charged with abuse and who have lost custody of their children who then kidnap them and run away. In fact, most kidnappings in this country are done by non-custodial parents. That makes sense to me. I can imagine the temptation to do the same if I were ever on the wrong end of such a battle.
But so many fiddle around, defy the court, don’t show up for scheduled visitations and are rather distant during those they do show up for. It is heart-breaking watching the children compete, desiring nothing but their parent’s affection and attention, and to continually be shoved off. For 15 months it drags on before alternate placements are finally seriously considered.
I don’t think we should be hasty in permanently removing children from the home. Please no one think that. But it is just so heartbreaking to see children thrown about in an unfeeling system.