Girl Missing 11 Years Returns to US With Stepdad

Scott Kelley, Mary Nunes in US; he's in custody
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2015 7:29 PM CDT
Missing Girl, Stepdad Found After 11 Years
Scott Kelley is back in the US after about a decade.   (US Marshals Service)

A high-profile custody and kidnapping case is finally over after 11 years in the most fundamental ways: The girl at the center of the case—now a legal adult of age 19—has been found, and her stepfather has joined her mother as a captured fugitive. The latest development occurred today when stepdad Scott Kelley, 50, and stepdaughter Mary Nunes flew into Atlanta from Costa Rica, reports CNN. Kelley was immediately taken into custody. Nunes, who faces no charges, was headed to an undisclosed location in Colorado, where the practice of Kelley's attorney is based, reports the Union Leader of New Hampshire. "It was time to come home," Kelley told People magazine.

The background of the convoluted case: Kelley and wife Genevieve Kelley are accused of taking then 8-year-old Mary out of the country in 2004 even though the girl's biological father, Mark Nunes, had custody rights. Genevieve Kelley had accused her former husband of abusing their daughter, but when police investigated and found the allegations without merit, the trio went on the run. Genevieve Kelley returned to the US last year because a son she had while a fugitive needed medical treatment. Both she and Scott Kelley now face kidnapping charges. "We love Mary and are overjoyed that she is alive and back in the US," says a statement from Mark Nunes. "Our hearts and home are open to her, and we will do everything we can to insure she remains safe and healthy." (More custody dispute stories.)

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