December 24, 2008

Missing Maryland child located by ICE Attaché in Mexico - father arrives in Houston to reunite with son
Mother arrested on international child abduction charges

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Houston today arrested ICE fugitive Tamara Kennedy, a U.S. citizen, for the international child abduction of her son Joseph Alexander Kennedy.

Ms. Kennedy was identified as a wanted fugitive while at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico seeking assistance with passports. She and her son were turned over to Mexican immigration officials for being illegally present in Mexico. The ICE Attaché office in Mexico City worked with Mexican officials to coordinate Ms. Kennedy's return to the U.S.

Kennedy and her son disappeared from Maryland in 1998, shortly before sole custody of the child was to be awarded to the child's father, Donald Wiswell. Both Kennedy and the child were flown to Houston today to be interviewed by federal authorities. Joseph Kennedy has been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services in Houston while the interviews are conducted. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was contacted and will assist with the reunion of Mr. Wiswell and his son.

In 2007, the Maryland State Police requested assistance from ICE in investigating this case. In March 2007, the ICE Special Agent in Charge (SAC) office in Baltimore obtained a federal warrant on Kennedy for knowingly removing a child from the United States with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights and entered her name into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as a fugitive.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

  Last Modified: