As many Charley Project viewers sent in to me, Stephen Michael Palacios found himself. He was abducted by his non-custodial father from Waco, Texas in 1993, when he was three years old. His mom had custody and Stephen’s father had visitation. His dad made off with him and never came back. Young Stephen’s father is also named Stephen Michael Palacios, so in the Charley casefile I called the abductor Stephen Sr. Yet the articles I found refer to him as Stephen Michael Palacios Jr., which I guess makes the son Stephen Michael Palacios III.
Anyway, in late August a Texas newspaper published an article about this 17-year-old case and somehow Stephen the son found it. I imagine it must have given him a bit of a start. I have no idea how Stephen the father had explained his son’s origins, but once he read the article Stephen the son demanded his father “do the right thing” and turn himself in to the police. Stephen the father did just that. He has been jailed on charges of custodial interference, and presumably Stephen the son will be reuniting with his mother soon. He will turn 21 in just a couple of days. This has been published in several news outlets including CBS News and Yahoo! News. The former article has a picture of Stephen the son and his mom pre-abduction; the latter article has a mug shot of Stephen the father.
And I found an article about another recovery, that of the sisters Jaden Dawson Cummins, Jasmine Nichole Cummins and Sierra Emberton. I had gotten their recovery notice from the NCMEC a few days ago and they’re already in my resolved section. Their paternal grandmother and her boyfriend abducted them. The children’s father was in prison and for whatever reason the mother couldn’t care for them, so the grandmother had custody. She and her boyfriend took the girls to Mexico in 2008 when she found out the mother was going to get them back. Mom had another kid in their absence and is now pregnant again. The two younger girls, Jaden and Jasmine, who are now 3 and 4, have forgotten most of their English by now. I’m sure they’re young enough to pick it up again quickly.
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