Kansas congressman Ron Estes said Thursday his office is working with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to bring two young girls back to Wichita after their mother took them to Russia in violation of a court order.
A federal grand jury convicted 38-year-old Bogdana Mobley of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money from the father of her two daughters. The father, Brian Mobley, was going through a divorce with Bogdana when she took the girls, ages 4 and 6, to Russia in 2014. Brian Mobley had been granted joint custody in Sedgwick County District Court. Prosecutors said from 2014 through November of 2016, Bogdana Mobley only allowed Brian to talk to the children through cell phones or Skype, and she told Mobley that in order to see his children, he needed to send her money.
Estes said he has sent a letter to Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov requesting the Russian government’s attention to the case. He’s asking the ambassador to work through diplomatic and domestic channels to return the girls to their father.
