CAIRO: US and Egyptian authorities are investigating the disappearance of an 11-year-old American boy, allegedly kidnapped by his Egyptian father on August 1.
Stephano “Niko” Atteya, from central Pennsylvania, lived with his divorced mother, Kalli Panagos-Atteya. Along with Kalli’s sister, Maria Panagos, the two traveled to Egypt on July 30 for a two-week visit to the family of Mohamed Atteya, Stephano’s non-custodial father.
The trip was Atteya’s idea, a state police report said. Claiming that his mother was ill and that his sister was getting married, Atteya requested that Stephano visit him and his family in Egypt.
The day after they arrived, Atteya picked the family up in a hired car with the stated intention of bringing them to Port Said, the report said. After claiming car trouble, the driver pulled over, and all passengers but Stephano left the vehicle.
Atteya allegedly got back in, shoved his ex-wife out as she attempted to get into the car, and ordered the driver to go.
“[Kalli and her sister] have not seen the victim since,” the police report said.
Although Atteya and his ex-wife divorced in 2005, they were on good terms, local Pennsylvania paper Public Opinion reported.
Since the disappearance, Kalli and Maria have remained in Egypt, working with the US Embassy and Egyptian authorities to try to secure the boy’s return.
“We are aware of this case,” said Elizabeth Colton, US Embassy spokesperson. “The Embassy in Cairo is assisting the US citizen parent.”
“Such assistance can include facilitating contact with local authorities, explaining the local judicial and law enforcement processes, and helping the parent to find an attorney and translator,” Colton added.
The Pennsylvania State Police filed the disappearance as a missing-person case. The US State Department is assisting in the investigation.
Stephano’s abduction highlights the difficulties of fighting international parental abduction. Egypt is not part of the Hague Abduction Convention of 2009, so the case falls outside of US court jurisdiction and the family must rely on the Egyptian court system to restore their custody of the boy.
Ambassador Susan Jacobs, Special Advisor to the Office of Children’s Issues at the US State Department, came to Egypt in January to discuss such problems.
“The [abandoned] parent in Egypt often has success in US courts, [yet] the other way around is very unusual,” Jacobs stated in January.
There are 28 ongoing cases of US-to-Egypt child abduction, she added.
