DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Montreal, Canada - 1935)

International child abductions were not common in 1935--at least not as common as they seem these days. But they did happen. The American father and Canadian mother in this case got a divorce in Reno, Nevada. The mother was awarded custody of their 10-year-old daughter, and the two of them settled in Montreal. Apparently the dad--who is only identified as a U.S. Army officer, presumably with the last name KERNAN--was not happy about the decision. Two months later, he shoved the girl into an automobile as she was walking home from school, and apparently headed for the border. The girl was able to call her mother from the Savoy Hotel, but didn't know what city she was in. The phone call was then cut off. At the time this article was written, the mother was leaving for New York City to see if the girl was there. But here's the interesting part. Montreal and Quebec police withdrew from the case, because they regarded the Reno divorce as invalid. Hence, the marriage was still valid so there was no kidnapping!

From the New York Times, November 6, 1935

http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F60E14F6395C147A93C4A9178AD95F418385F9

ABDUCTED GIRL PHONES MOTHER IN MONTREAL

Believed Carried Off by Her Father to "Some City in the United States"

MONTREAL, Nov. 5 (AP).--Disappearance of 10-year-old Helene Kernan became an international matter today as the child telephoned from some town across the border to her mother.

Montreal and Quebec police withdrew from the case, as the Quebec courts do not recognize Reno divorces, and the child being believed in custody of her father, proceedings against him could not be taken here.

The girl was shoved into a waiting automobile while walking home from Montreal High School yesterday with a group of schoolmates. The police and Mrs. W. F. Kernan, the mother, believe that her father took the child. The father, a United States Army officer, and Mrs. Kernan were divorced at Reno on September, Mrs. Kernan obtaining custody of the child.

Mrs. Kernan, member of the old Russian nobility and daughter of a McGill University professor, told the police that she received a mysterious telephone call from her daughter staying at the Savoy Hotel "in some United States city." Efforts were made at New York to trace the call. The line was cut off before Mrs. Kernan could get any information from the girl.

Mrs. Kernan will leave for New York tomorrow to make an appeal to United States authorities to recover her child.