Missing Texas toddler is returned to her father five months after vanishing from summer tourist hotspot
A missing three-year-old girl has been returned to her father after she disappeared from a south Texas resort last summer.
Rilee Crouch was last seen on South Padre Island on July 5 when her father Dakota Crouch dropped her off at her mother Lillian Maria Crouch’s home. The former couple was reportedly in the middle of a freedom struggle.
Both Rilee and her mother were missing when Crouch returned to pick her up two days later, officials said.
It has now emerged that Lillian had taken the toddler to Panama as part of a plan to flee to Rilee’s grandmother’s home in Turkey. told ValleyCentral.
Rilee and Lillian, 29, landed back in Texas on Sunday evening, escorted by U.S. marshals from Panama City.
Lillian was arrested upon arrival at the airport for interference with child custody.
Meanwhile, Rilee has since been returned to her father, South Padre Island spokesperson Angelique Soto said KRGV.
Rilee Crouch, 3, has been returned to her father after disappearing from her non-custodial mother’s home in Texas in July
Lillian was arrested upon arrival at the airport for interference with child custody
Rilee has since been returned to her father Dakota Crouch
Officials have not revealed how the child was traced to Panama.
South Padre Island communities held meetings this summer asking the public for help finding Rilee.
“Wherever you are, Rilee, know that I’m fighting for you. I love you, and I will never give up on you. I’m still here, and I’ll see you soon,” her father Dakota Crouch told Valley Central in August.
Crouch said Lillian’s phone would go straight to voicemail when he tried to reach her, adding that her attorneys in the custody case withdrew because they also couldn’t reach her.
“This was the third time she denied me visitation,” Crouch said.
‘She had already been warned by the judge to please stop doing this, but this time it has become even worse. She can’t be located at all.’
Crouch said at the time that he feared his ex-wife and daughter could be in Mexico before Lillian became a dual citizen.
Rilee was last seen on South Padre Island, a beach town at the southern tip of Texas
He had expressed frustration that police had not issued an Amber Alert for his daughter, as parental kidnappings in custodial disputes are usually considered civil matters.
South Padre Island is a beach town at the southern tip of Texas and has a population of approximately 2,000.