It’s not like I didn’t think of this. It’s just that I wasn’t focusing on healing while the madness of the abduction and subsequent craziness of Guatemala happened. 

In Guatemala Thor was thrown into an orphanage, run by the organization All God’s Children. The orphanage is called Hannah’s Hope located in Guatemala City. Interpol officers arrested Andrew Wang (my ex husband and Thor’s abductor) with Thor on April 18^th in Antigua, Guatemala, where Andrew had taken Thor. Antigua is about 2 hours by car south of Guatemala City, G-City is the capital of Guatemala. As soon as Andrew knew the jig was up he called in his local attorney (was the guy on speed dial or what?) and started accusing me of abusing Thor in the local Antiguan court. Andrew had not a shred of evidence on him, not even an id for himself or anything for Thor (no birth certificate or other documentation – California court held Thor’s passports during our divorce, since neither Andrew nor me could remove Thor from Los Angeles County).Not that Andrew had or has nay evidence for his accusations. Despite being in Guatemala illegally, despite having brought Thor, 1 years old, clearly a minor, into the country illegally, the weekend court (Andrew was arrested on a Saturday) choose to be “confused” as to Andrew’s allegations and mine. The court choose not to believe the Interpol officers present to testify that there was (and there still is) a warrant out for Andrew’s arrest, or the U.S. vice consul who was there to support me and all of my L.A. Superior Court documents proving the abduction by Wang and documents granting me sole legal and sole physical custody of Thor due to this abduction. I also had a U.S. State Department Agent and some local police present, corroborating what I was saying.

The local Antiguan court, after many hours without food or drink for Thor, me or anybody else, decided to “test” if who Thor preferred of the two parents: based on this they “might” or “might not” give me temporary custody of Thor. In a dank basement, in a run-down shack called court, surrounded by armed men with automatic machine guns casually slung around their shoulders, Thor got to see me for the first time in 9 weeks. His eyes grew big as mama started singing softly in Swedish. But after Andrew tossed my baby out in the middle of the room, to see who Thor would choose, and Thor, very scared ran back to his daddy; I apparently lost custody of my son again.

I saw Thor for about an hour forty-five minutes this one time after a little more than two months of not knowing if my only child was even alive. Thor was taken to an orphanage. I lost all control of myself at this point. Really, it was a wonder I kept it together all of this horrendous day. But I did it to get to see my baby again. There is much more to what happened this day and night. And during the rest of this horrid experience, but I will move on.

The U.S. vice consul had the wherewithal, I did not, to ask for an orphanage, “the best in Guatemala,” and this is how Thor ended up at Hannah’s Hope, not 10 blocks from my hotel in Guatemala City. 

During the following five days I fought the battle of my life. It was truly epic. I didn’t sleep, during the nights I wrote, kept in contact with hundreds of people willing to help me in Guatemala. I chatted with media, I even did a 4 am radio interview for a Swedish radio station. During the day I hunted local journalists, had the situation not solve itself as it did I would have been all over T.V., radio and papers in Guatemala. In fact the media hype almost got Thor and me killed while we tried to escape Guatemala, as blood hungry journalist literally were hunting us down for a promised interview while I had taken the life saving decision to illegally flee Guatemala with my tired child.

But again, I digress. I am indeed writing a book about this, so that I can help others. There is not space nor time for me to write all of what happened down here. But I wanted to share this as this blog (at least as it concerns Thor) is coming to and end with this post.

I just want to answer some lingering questions. And perhaps, in so doing, I explain why I have been sad, tired and fighting a new battle after arriving in Sweden.

Once I decided to flee Guatemala with Thor another terrible three days ensued. Perhaps the worst three days of my life. Thor was disguised as a girl as we left Guatemala. Several volunteers arranged for, lent the money and hid us while Thor and I fled the country and then were routed through central America (Panama) and then on to freedom in Madrid, Spain. The first night we spent hid in a hotel in Guatemala City. I was not allowed a cell phone, I had not told my attorneys, nor any of my family or friends what was happening. An armed, female guard slept with Thor and me. Thor has terrible diarrhea, and was quite tired and confused. In the middle of that first night the three men outside our room loaded their weapons as someone approached (we had the entire top floor of this dinky hotel rented to us and us alone). The woman in our room jumped out of the room and told me to hide in the bathtub with my baby. I have never been so scared in my life, having Thor back in my arms, but being beside myself with fear, my son being sick and hearing weapons load. I was almost hoping to get killed to have it all over with right there and then. I don’t know what happened, but the guards came back and said that “everything ok,” in their broken English.

 Again, I leave out details, and will skip onward to Sweden.

After traveling around to family, countless newspaper interviews, some radio and hundreds of emails and phone calls I started to get settled in Sweden. Only to see that Andrew was writing that he was in Norway. I was scared yet again. Andrew is on free foot, for reasons unknown to me, and angrier than ever. After a few weeks at a Woman’s Shelter, much therapy and more strengthening talks with friends, family and survivor’s of perhaps worse situations than mine, I am determined to not be scared anymore. I am not even angry with Andrew.

I am only sorry that Thor will have to live without a father. At least that is what Andrew is choosing for himself.

Anger, hatred, lies. We must heal. Thor and I are healing. I am working on healing others. Andrew is the only one left, it seems, to jump on the healing train.

For Thor, and because of him I am a better person. And to further protect us and to have space to heal, space to help others, I will write no more here of Thor. I will continue my work for others, as others have worked for me. I hope for your understanding, I feel your love.

Thank you for saving us.

Love, Mia (saved and safe at last) 

P.S. If there are still questions I’ll try to answer them here as a parting act. Just email or post comments.

Foto: Jerker Ivarsson, Aftonbladet

Today in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet: “Afraid of her ex-husband” (in Swedish)

You can find more articles about Mia and Thor here.

Thor is doing great. We have re-bonded and are relaxing far away in the Swedish countryside. I try to stay away from Andrew’s poisonous writings and I tell myself every day that Thor will not be re-abducted, but of course the worry is still there. Maybe I will always worry.

I love Thor and we are both very happy to be reunited. Thanks again all you Angels out there who saved our lives. If you feel up for it and want to join forces to save more abducted children (and there are so many out there!) send and email to findbabythorwang@gmail.com

Hanging with the horses

The issue of custody has been settled by Los Angeles Superior Court during 11 month of trial. If Andrew felt as misjudged as he describes on his own website his ONLY legal forum is the L.A. justice system. He tried to prove EVERY point currently on his website, as did I, and the level of proof needed (“even” for family court) is high in Southern California.

Lay-men make your judgements on what infomation has been published by Andrew and by myself – but please know what professionals, instructed to judge based on what is the best interest of the child, have considered all the evidence and determined that Thor belongs with his mom in Sweden. Thor was to see Andrew every two months, year round, to maintain a stable relationship with his father. I still claim that Thor will need his father AND that under organized forms Andrew and Thor are still to see each other. The dynamic of these meetings have been constrained by Andrew’s past actions of abducting Thor.

I will not hide. I will not run. The Interpol warrant for Andrew’s arrest is still in effect. Meet me in the appropriate court and determine what is best for Thor. OR let’ have a adult discussion (which I have asked for for over a year) about how to safely let Thor have 2 parents. But one parent cannot abduct the child and claim to try to protect the child. That is as absurd as to claim that skimpily clad women deserve getting raped. And people do claim that some women deserve getting raped, which is disgusting. Probably the same people think rape is ok under certain conditions as think that abducting a baby is ok. 

If we choose to take the law into our own hands we can no longer exist in civilized society and we need no government, police or other forms of legal and social structures.

Andrew could not accept the court’s decision that it was in Thor’s best interest to live with his mother in Sweden. And to people with the twisted idea that if you have a child in your non-native country with a “foreigner” that you must stay there – that is not what law, social or any other system or school of thought dictates. That is simply your opinion. And individual opinions, thank God, do not rule the world. Law does. I have committed no crime and neither has my son, we will not hide. Andrew should, and is, hiding.

Read more:  Saknade barns nätverk (in Swedish)

Camilla, Annelie, Anna, Thor and I went to UD (The Swedish Foreign Ministry) to present the collection of names (thousands for each child) for Vid and for Thor to insist that UD face the music and do more in the cases of our lost children. I had the great fortune to be able to attend WITH my son, but Anna (Vid’s mom) was there alone. We spoke for over an hour with Örjan, head of Lost Children’s Division. Örjan was understanding and cordial and we will meet more with him – but we learned that UD simply put does not have enough funds nor authority to act in the “best interest” of our smallest citizens when they need us. More dire action is needed to protect our babies. And if it is more action that is needed I am the woman for it. I have said it before – I will not stop until our children are safe. Iwant to leave this world just even a tiny bit better than when I entered it. I owe it to Thor.

I collaborate with Saknade Barns Nätverk (www.saknadebarn.org) and you will hear us roar soon! This is the day.

Going over who to list in this thank you “speech” I decided I felt like Sally Fields on Oscar night, music being cued to get the blubbering, shaking  and very thankful actress off the stage. Albeit I am no actress – but I DO have many people to thank for being finally in Sweden with my most precious gift, my son.

People who have donated time and hundreds, maybe thousands of volunteer hours and most of all lending hope in a hopeless situation to a mother in need: thank you Mom Detectives, IT people and everyday heroes spreading the word of Thor. I honest to God (and you know what God means to me!) I still don’t know how Andrew was found. But I am guessing that it had to do with everyone spreading the word. And with good police work (Sheriffs).

Thank you Detctives Carrillo and Martinez for working unpaid hours tracking my ex and my son to Guatemala.

To U.S. Marshalls, U.S. State Department Agent C, U.S. Embassy in Guatemala (Leslie girl), The Swedish Embassy in Guatemala – for protection, sound advice and courage to side with justice and for Thor’s safety in a dire time.

To volunteers who helped me find the means and the courage to flee Guatemala, I dare not name you, but you deserve many thanks.

Friends and family, especially Magnus, Rachel and Camilla, you pulled me through, kicking and screaming.

To Liam at NCMEC – whoa, coming to Sweden soon with your wife I hope? Long hours of counseling over the phone, thank you.

To attorneys Marco and William, the few, the proud. You prove the stereotype all wrong

Never give up, never surrender – dreams and miracles do come true!

Now in Sweden people are still pulling togther to aid Thor and me. We are trying to set up house, furniture, clothes etc. is needed. We are so grateful for continual support.

Andrew has, and I refuse to check it, set up a webpage of his own. I think, from what I hear, that he’s making the same tired allegations as he tried to make stick during 11 months of court in L.A.. Andrew has called every news source in Sweden. And, he swore to some that he will fight for Thor in Sweden. Think about this, all you people who doubt where Thor belongs; the one that cannot prove his/her case in court, in front of reasonable, seasoned psychological expertes and then ABDUCTS  a small, breast feeding child IS NOT THE BETTER EQUIPPED PARENT.

The warrant for Andrew’s arrest is still in effect; the moment he lands in Sweden he will be arrested and extradited. Same as he will be arrested setting foot in the U.S. I would not put it past him to pay people and send them to re-abduct Thor. I am putting in place safety measures that will make any such plan very difficult. How Andrew can put his ego above the health of our son chills me to my core. But if this abduction and finding Thor has taught me anything it is to have faith. Good prevails. And an idiom in Swedish says “Some God punish immediately for their sins.” Californians often say “Karma’s a bitch.” It sure is.

I will keep fighting for lost children. I am aiming to keep blogging here and use Thor’s well-trafficked site to raise awarness to other cases. I especially encourage Swedes to visit saknadebarn.org (I will go with Camilla and some others this week to hand off a petition to UD, Swedish Foreign Ministry) to raise awarness to the plight of Vid. Thor may be home, but many children are still not sleeping in their beds, safe and sound tonight.

Thor is sleeping upstairs now as I am writing this. I am tired after a long day with him, a radio interview and many emails and phone calls. I have learned to live with an immense workload. I am just so happy Thor and I are finally reunited.

Sometimes words are not enough, but they are all I have, so thank you.

If there is one thing that I have learned about us humans through all of this it is to never, ever, underestimated the power of compassion.

Keep hope alive and rage against the dying of that light.

Mamma Mia in Stockholm

Thor and I when I picked him up at the orphanage in Guatemela. Wednesday April 22, 2009.

All photos by Lina Boström Einarsson, Aftonbladet.

"Thor back with his mother again"

Read the Swedish version in Expressen here.

Mia Danielsson, 28 years old, has now been reunited with her son Thor, 17 months, said the orphanage said last night. The mother and her little boy are now protected by guards from the American Deparment of Foreign Affairs.

- The only thing we prioritise are Mia’s and Thor’s safety, says Gunilla Dahlin at the Swedish Embassy in Guatemala.

Yesterday evening, Swedish time, the case with the abducted boy Thor took a dramatic turn. Information came that Mia Danielsson and her lawyer Marco Tulio Mérida Cifuentes  were permitted to state the case at the family court in Chimaltenango.

- I cannot offer any comments right now, says the Swedish woman’s lawyer when Expressen spoke to him at midnight.

According to information to Expressen, Thor was collected at the orphanage Hanna’s Hope by Mia’s lawyer and another person at 2.00 pm local time.

- It was the lawyer Marco Tuilo Mérida Cifuentes and another person who came and collected the boy.
- They had a court order to collect Thor and, as far as I know, he has now been reunited with his mother, says the orphanage’s female director, Alejandra Diaz, to Expressen.
- They could not tell were they were going due to security reasons.

Fears for her safety
Mia Danielsson said earlier during the day that she fears for her and her son’s safety.

- I have guards protecting me from the American Deparment of Foreign Affairs. If I get Thor back, my ex-husband will become desperate. I fear for my life, she said hours before the court proceedings.

The Swedish Embassy have, together with the American Deparment of Foreign Affairs, produced a safety plan that was activated when Mia was reunited with Thor.

Safe house
The Swedish woman will stay at a safe house before she is taken out of Guatemala and returned to Sweden.

Mia’s soon to be ex-husband kidnapped the son after that a court in Los Angeles given the Swedish woman full custody. Thor was taken by car through Mexico to Guatemala were American authorities managed to track him down. Last week Mia Danielsson travelled to Guatemala City. Her soon to be ex-husband has tried to create a custody case, but the court rejected this request and chose to reunite Thor with his mother.

"Mia and Thor reunited"

Read the Swedish version in Aftonbladet here.

Mia Danielsson has finally been reunited with her son. They both now live in a safe house while the investigation proceeds. In just a few days they hope to be at home in Sweden. Together with four male lawyers from Guatemala and a representative for the Swedish Embassy in Guatemala City, Mia yesterday went to the family court outside the city of Antigua.

Can be settled
There they demanded that the court procedures, earlier set to take place at May 6, would take place at an earlier date. Mia’s team of lawyers used court documents, translated into Spanish and brought from Los Angeles the day before yesterday. The documents prove that Mia has been given sole custody of her son, that was kidnapped by the child’s father, Andrew Wang, on February 12 this year.

- Given the documents, the judge may have given a verdict directly, says a person with insights in this case.

Reunited
According to sources to Aftonbladet Mia has now reunited with her son. She is not allowed to leave Guatemala at present due to the ongoing investigation, but hopes to be able to bring Thor to Sweden soon. The boy’s father, who is wanted by the Interpol and is somewhere close to Antigua, is opposing the verdict. Due to safety reasons, Mia and Thor now live in a safe house were they are protected by security guards from the American Department of Foreign Affairs.

Thor has been reunited with his moter. The Swedish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed this on Thursday afternoon. The negociations in Guatemala continues but has been transferred to a new court.

Kidnapped in February
It was on February 14 this year that the then 15 month old Thor was kidnapped by his father. The same day Thor’s mother, Mia Danielsson, had been given sole custody of the son. Ever since the father is internationally wanted by the police and last week information came stating that he and Thor was in Guatemala. Mia Danielsson went there with representatives from American authorities to claim Thor back. Since they did not bring the complete documentation from the American court verdict, the case ended up in a court in Guatemala and Thor was placed in an orphanage.

The case regarding Thor Wang, 17 months, who was kidnapped by his father on February 14, seems to be coming near a solution. Today the Swedish Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Thor has been reunited with his mother Mia Danielsson, 28. The two are kept at a secret location in Guatemala. The negociations are still on-going but a solution is expected during the coming days.

- I can confirm that the child now is with it’t mother, says UD:s press officer Anders Jörle to DN.

As DN.se has earlier reported ,the court proceedings in Guatemala has been slow ever since Thor was found last week. Thor’s mother was given sole custody of Thor earlier this year by California’s supreme court. Ever since, the father has been internationally wanted by the police and this Friday information surfaced implying that Thor and his father was in Guatemala. Mia Danielsson, as her son, is both an American and Swedish citizen. The custody case, which is an American case, has been regarded as a local matter and Thor was placed in an orphanage to await a verdict. The case had then been at a central court in Antigua and nothing has happened. But now the case has been transferred to another court. Both Swedish and American authorities are very secretive and do not wish to make any further statements as not to place Mia and Thor in any danger. Now they are awaiting a juidical solution in Guatemala before Mia Danielsson and her son can return home.