Police believe Amanda Dinges and her mother Amber Dinges kidnapped Amanda’s foster child and brought them to Vietnam.
A 5-year-old Mount Vernon boy believed to have been kidnapped by his foster parent was found in Vietnam with the woman and her mother.
The boy, identified as “ND,” arrived back in Seattle Friday morning, accompanied by FBI agents and victims’ advocates. The boy reunited with his biological mother after his arrival.
“She said he’s fine, he was excited to see her,” said Brittany Tri, the birth mother’s attorney. “They’re both excited, so the excitement comes from both sides, but she did say he’s very tired.”
Police say the boy’s foster parent, Amanda Dinges, 35, and her mother, Amber Dinges, 60, kidnapped the boy. Police said now that ND has been found, their focus will be on the arrest and extradition of the two women, who are not in custody. Mount Vernon police believe they are in Vietnam, but say international recognition of arrest warrants and extradition is “a complicated process”.
The lawyer for the boy’s biological mother said they knew authorities believed they had left the country, but only learned early this week that he was believed to be in Vietnam.
“She was really shocked when she found out it was that country,” Tri said. “She was really, I think it was the first time she was really nervous that they might not be able to find him and bring him back.”
Tri also said that as far as she knows, the boy didn’t have a passport, so she’s not sure how he managed to leave the country.
The search for the boy began on November 28 when child protective services alerted Mount Vernon police that Dinges may have left with the boy.
Police found Amanda Dinges had disconnected her phones, left her last known address, and fled the area.
CPS told police the child had been out of school since Nov. 21 and that an abandonment notice was posted on the door of Dinges’ apartment, according to probable cause documents.
Dinges previously met with the boy’s birth mother and CPS staff on Nov. 15, where the agency recommended the boy’s birth mother begin nightly visits for a few weeks starting Nov. 25. The group scheduled a meeting in December to discuss expanding the visits.
The next day, Dinges told Sky Valley CPS that she had to have her teenage foster child removed from her home before starting a new job in the state on November 21. Police say Dinges told CPS staff that the 5-year-old had already been removed, which he hadn’t.
CPS removed the teen from Dinges’ care on November 18.
On November 19, a neighbor told police she saw the Dingeses and the boy walking fast and heard the women tell the boy to “go here”. The neighbor then asked Amber if they were moving and said her answer was “uncomfortable” and she quickly tried to turn the conversation around.
On November 21, managers of Dinges’ apartment found her unit’s keys in the office, which they say had been returned over the weekend.
When the boy failed to show up for his birth mother’s scheduled visit on Nov. 25, she contacted her social worker, according to Brittany Tri, the birth mother’s attorney. Due to the holiday weekend, the employee saw the message on Nov. 28, and CPS alerted police to concerns about the child’s safety.
Through interviews and data collected in 25 search warrants, Mount Vernon police said they determined the boy and the Dingeses were in Thai Binh, Vietnam, about 70 miles southeast of Hanoi.
Diplomatic service security personnel took the boy into custody at the United States Consulate in Hanoi at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The boy then flew to Tokyo, where he was met by the FBI and lawyers on Thursday.
Amanda Dinges was charged with second-degree kidnapping and a warrant for her arrest was issued on November 29. Amber Dinges was charged with second-degree kidnapping on December 2.
Attorney Brittany Tri filed a court order to allow the boy to live with his birth mother. Tri said the state had already started transferring him to stay with her when he was allegedly kidnapped by the foster mother. CPS keeps the case open for six months and monitors the boy and his mother.
“There’s no point in putting him in another house he doesn’t know with strangers, to return him to his mother, who has already done everything she needs to do,” Tri said.
@ KING 5
