Kidnapped American child rescued in Vietnam

The Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD) in Washington State, U.S., announced on December 16 that the boy with the initials “ND” has been back home with his biological mother in Seattle since earlier this week.

MVPD had launched an investigation into the kidnapping with support from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Homeland Security Investigations unit (HSI) and the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

According to a police post on Facebook, the boy had been placed in the care of foster mother Amanda Dinges by the Department of Youth and Family Services. But Dirges then absconded with the boy illegally, according to investigators.

Police said Amanda Dinges, 35, and her mother Amber Dinges, 60, had taken ND out of the U.S. on purpose, so they issued arrest warrants for the two suspects and charged them with kidnapping.

By November 29, investigators knew that Amanda Dinges had turned off her phone and was not at her permanent address.

After gathering information and talking to people who knew them, American police found out that the mother and daughter of the Dinges family were in Thai Binh Province.

On December 14, the boy was safely secured by DSS personnel and flown to Tokyo, Japan. The next day, FBI agents brought ND back from Tokyo to Washington so that they could reunite him with his family.

According to MVPD, Amanda and Amber Dinges are in Vietnam, and U.S. authorities are working to bring the two suspects back to the U.S. to stand trial.

On its Facebook page, MYPD thanked the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam for their help during the investigation.