A Father's Love: One Man's Unrelenting Battle to Bring His Abducted Son Home

by David Goldman

Overview

What would you do if your four-year-old son was abducted—by your spouse?

In June, 2004, David Goldman took his Brazilian wife, Bruna, and their son, Sean, to the airport. She told him that they would be returning to New Jersey after a two-week vacation. Once there, however, Bruna informed Goldman that she was staying in Brazil—and keeping Sean.

In the courts, Goldman found himself outmaneuvered by the legal machinations of Bruna’s new husband, a member of one of Brazil’s most powerful families. But Goldman never gave up, appealing to the media and the highest levels of the U.S. government for help. A Father’s Love is the story of Goldman’s incredible five-year battle to reunite with his abducted child—and an inspiring celebration of an ordinary man’s love for his son.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452297913
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/24/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David Goldman now runs a charter boat business and does advocacy work on international child abduction. He has appeared on Dateline, Today, and NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, and on Fox and CNN. He and Sean live in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

1 The Phone Call 1

2 Jersey Boy 7

3 Bruna 23

4 Living the Dream 36

5 My New Reality 46

6 Reality Check 51

7 Angels and Demons 58

8 A Friend Indeed 72

9 Contact! 83

10 The Unspeakable 91

11 Unending Nightmare 100

12 To See My Son 113

13 Date with Destiny 127

14 Father and Son 136

15 Unexpected Help 150

16 Family Lies 163

17 Good News, Bad News 172

18 Pressure Points 182

19 The Decision 196

20 Tension Rising 208

21 The Christmas Miracle 218

22 Home at Last 236

23 Giving Back 254

Afterword 264

Acknowledgments 267

Notes 269

Index 273

Editorial Reviews

Gut-wrenching . . . a journey of unimaginable heartbreak and loss.”—BookPage

“A riveting tale of an unusual abduction.”—Kirkus Reviews

“One engaging and bittersweet volume.”—New Jersey Monthly

From the Publisher

“Gut-wrenching . . . a journey of unimaginable heartbreak and loss.

BookPage

“One engaging and bittersweet volume.

New Jersey Monthly

With the assistance of veteran co-author Abraham (Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith that Almost Changed Everything, 2008, etc.), Goldman tells the story of his six-year battle to regain custody of his son Sean.

While working in Milan in 1997, the author met his future wife Bruna. Although she was Brazilian, they decided to marry and make their home in the New Jersey beach community where he was raised. Sean was born in 2000. In 2004, Bruna and Sean traveled to Brazil to visit her parents. Goldman planned to join them in a week, but four days after her departure, she phoned to inform him that she was leaving him and demanded sole custody of their son. The author writes that Bruna threatened him and pressured him to sign legal documents granting her custody. Seeking legal advice, he learned that this was not just a custody case. According to the Hague Convention, which had been ratified by both the United States and Brazilian, his wife had kidnapped their son. Despite the fact that U.S. courts ordered the immediate return of the Sean to the United States—where a custody hearing would be held in accordance with the Convention—Goldman was thwarted continually by the Brazilian judicial system. In 2008, having no other recourse, Goldman decided to seek publicity for his case. Featured on NBC, he attracted the attention of New Jersey Representative Chris Smith, who became a determined advocate on his behalf and enlisted support from fellow congressmen, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama. Sean became a poster child for thousands of other abducted children, and finally, in December 2009, he was released to the custody of his father.

A riveting tale of an unusual abduction and a father's determination to regain rightful custody of his son.

Kirkus Reviews