Sabrina Allen is Missing

Sabrina Fair Allen

April 21, 2004 marked the two year anniversary of Sabrina Allen's abduction. Sabrina's home church in Austin, Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, held a service for all missing and hurting children. Sabrina was abducted from Austin, Texas by her non-custodial mother, Dara Marie Llorens.

Several dozen attended the service, including Robert Cooke, the father of missing central Texas woman Rachel Cooke. Songs were sung, candles were lit in remembrance, and worshipers were invited to write names of individual children for prayer.

Sabrina's father, Greg Allen, read scripture during the service and spoke afterward.

Today marks a difficult anniversary. Two years ago today my daughter, Sabrina, did not come home from a weekend visit with her non-custodial mother. There had been repeated threats to flee to Mexico, and I immediately feared the worst. I could not have imagined the journey I was to undertake -- I unwillingly joined the club of parents with an abducted child.

I've worked very hard at finding Sabrina and at raising awareness about parental abduction. Sabrina's story has been on local and national television, including "America's Most Wanted". I've worked closely with law enforcement, and with private investigators.

I've helped to pass a Texas law called "Prevention of International Parental Child Abduction" by testifying before committees in both houses of the state legislature. This was signed into law just days before Sabrina's last birthday. This law is now being used as a model to be passed in other states. It could have prevented Sabrina's abduction, and will help others in similar situations across the USA.

In the last year I have spent considerable time in Mexico, studying Spanish and trying to find Sabrina.

All of that hard work seemed to pay off last June. I received an email from a teacher in a preschool. She was Sabrina's teacher. I was in Mexico City at the time, and ate dinner with the teacher that night. I turned the information over to the authorities. Three very long days later I was told that they were in custody, and that I should fly to Houston where we would be reunited. When I arrived, I learned that they had escaped.

One of my intentions throughout this ordeal has been to raise awareness about parental abductions. Many people assume that a child with an abducting parent is just fine -- they're with a parent, right? Wrong! Parental abduction is an act of revenge and spite, and certainly not for the child.

Last year I read a list of damages to abducted children, not knowing Sabrina's situation. I had hoped that Sabrina's situation would be better than this, but it wasn't. Her hair was cut and dyed. Their names were changed. Her teachers were shocked -- they had had a birthday party on a day that wasn't her birthday. Sabrina frequently went without eating and had lost considerable weight. Multiple people told me that Sabrina was suffering in her mother's care. I'd like to read an email from a teacher that I communicated with. I have translated it from Spanish.

The girl is suffering with her mother.
Sabrina is always preoccupied. The woman has made her believe that a man is looking for her to do her harm.
Sabrina believes that everything that happens is her fault.
The woman doesn't work and doesn't have money. Sabrina only ate what I could give her in the school. She didn't eat on weekends and she was always hungry when she came to school.
Her stomach hurt a lot. I believe it was because she didn't eat breakfast or supper.
Her head hurt and she had fever very frequently. I told this to her mother, but she didn't care.
The woman told Sabrina not to tell me anything because I was very bad. Because of this, it took a lot of work to gain Sabrina's confidence.
If the woman saw that Sabrina was affectionate with me, she punished her. Sabrina told me that she would not be allowed to speak all afternoon.
When Sabrina spoke about you [her father] she cried a lot. She told me about her life with you, and that she missed you very much. She said she wanted to be with you.
The woman always scolded her and told her rude things. She told her that she was very ugly, that nobody wanted her, and that everything was her fault.

I'd say this paints a pretty clear picture of Sabrina's life. Sabrina's teachers wouldn't accept any money from the reward, despite having lost their jobs. One worked very hard to locate recent photos and a video, in hopes of finding her. We still keep in contact.

Parental abduction is child abuse, and inexcusable under any circumstances. People sometimes try to justify it by saying, "I'm protecting the child from abuse." Actually, they are abusing the child. Sabrina told her teacher that she can't live this life anymore. And now her name has been changed again.

It has been a hard two years, but I can say that I have learned to be happy in the face of this horror. I found something else in Mexico City that I wasn't expecting: Mariana. She has been my Spanish teacher, translator, traveling companion, tour guide, and friend. I'm also happy to announce that she has recently become my fiancee.

Although this anniversary is difficult, it is also hopeful. One year ago, I could only guess where Sabrina was, or even if she was alive. This year we found them. We have some leads, and we will find them again -- it's only a matter of time. It won't be as fast as I want, but we will find them again.

I've received incredible support and encouragement from friends and the community. Thank you, and please keep praying. We'll have a lot of work to do when Sabrina gets home. Hopefully it will be soon.

Allen had sole legal custody of Sabrina. The abductor, 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.

Two Years Missing