A daughter remembered, one year after abduction

Sabrina Fair Allen

April 21, 2003 marks the one-year anniversary of Sabrina Allen's abduction. Sabrina's family and friends dedicated a flower garden at Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, next to the church playground where she used to play. Sabrina was abducted from Austin, Texas by her non-custodial mother, Dara Marie Llorens.

Several dozen people attended the Prayer and Dedication service, held at 7:00 pm. It was a time of hope and remembrance, of praying and singing.

Scripture was read by Sabrina's grandmother, D'Maris Allen-Mierl, and also by Sabrina's great-grandfather, Earle Lumpkin. Lumpkin proudly displayed the back of his shirt which says "Grandfather's Golf Club" and lists his great-grandchildren, including Sabrina.

Pastor Norb Finhaber gave a message of hope and comfort for the grieving family. He pulled a plastic egg from his coat pocket and said, "Sabrina gave me this egg last Easter. It contains a cookie and a Starburst. I pray that she can consume its contents shortly."

Sabrina's father, Greg Allen, also spoke. "Parental abduction is widely misunderstood by people that are not affected by it. Many assume that a child with an abducting parent is inherently safe, but that is not the case." He said that parental abduction is not an act of love for the child, but an act to punish the other parent.

Allen thanked Kelly Bonnell, a Girl Scout who designed, oversaw, and planted the butterfly garden for her Gold Award project. He said, "These flowers will attract butterflies, and repel the deer. They can also survive the Texas sun."

"This year has been a roller-coaster ride. I feel anger, helplessness, guilt, and pain. Every lead gets my hopes up, but nothing has led us to them. I know that Sabrina is in danger, and that Dara is ill and unstable. I never though it could go this long," said Allen.

"She has some Christmas gifts, birthday gifts sitting there unopened," he said emotionally. "It's been a hard year, and I miss her."

Fighting tears, Allen continued, "Sabrina has a lot of fond memories of this church. She was in the Sunday School here. She was in Vacation Bible School. She loved to give Pastor Norb her half-eaten snack after Sunday School. She loved singing songs with Terri."

Terri Romere said, "Sabrina always wanted to sing this song. 'Mrs. Terri, can we sing `Be strong?`'" Romere tearfully read to Allen, "Be strong and courageous; Do not be terrified; Do not be discouraged; For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." An engraved stone in Sabrina's garden will carry this message.

Family and friends then planted yellow flowers in the garden -- yellow is Sabrina's favorite color. Romere led the group in song, singing some of Sabrina's favorites.

Robert Cooke, father of missing central Texas woman Rachel Cooke, also planted a flower for Sabrina. "It's a little different situation of abduction, but we still have that same emptiness. We still lost a daughter," Cooke said. "We're both dads with missing daughters," Allen said.

Allen expressed confidence that Sabrina would be found. "I know I'll find her. The world is only so big," he said.

Allen had sole legal custody of Sabrina. Llorens was diagnosed with a personality disorder, and had supervised visitation for six months. For more information, or to see how you can help, please visit Sabrina's website at FindSabrina.org.