Washington Boys Reunited with Dad Six Months After Going Missing, Mom Charged with Kidnapping

A Washington family is " ecstatic" following their reunion Friday with their sons, who had been missing for six months following what the FBI alleged was a kidnapping by their mother.

Isaac and Sage Cook, 9 and 15, were found in Sinaloa, Mexico, and returned to Bellevue Friday, the FBI's Seattle division said in a statement.

They were reunited with their father, David Cook (who has legal custody of the boys), and stepmother, Helen Cook, in Mexico earlier that day, according to the FBI.

Their mother, Faye Hsin-I Ku, has been charged in Washington with felony custodial interference and with international parental kidnapping, a federal crime, according to the FBI.



Authorities have accused her of illegally crossing from San Diego into Tijuana on Aug. 29.

A federal complaint and arrest warrant were also issued Friday by the United States District Court, Central District of California, according to the FBI.

Ku has been extradited from Mexico and will appear in federal court on Tuesday, in L.A., according to the FBI.

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Isaac and Sage were last seen at the Los Angeles International Airport, on Aug. 28, after arriving from Washington, according to an earlier Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lakewood Station statement

The boys had traveled to Lakewood, California, that Friday in 2015 for a "supervised visit" with Ku, according to the sheriff's statement.

She and David divorced in 2009, according to the statement.

The sheriff's office alleged that "the investigation revealed Ms. Ku presented what appeared to be a 'supervised visit' court order issued by the State of Washington to the missing children's father, and he reasonably relied on what he thought was a legitimate order," according to the statement.

The sheriff's office claimed that "Ms. Ku intentionally left behind personal belongings at her place of residence that would prevent law enforcement from tracking her whereabouts."

"In a prepared a letter, she blamed the children's father for trying to control them, and asked him to leave them alone," the sheriff's office alleged.

But on Friday, the Cook family and law enforcement celebrated a successful, safe reunion.

"This six-month international kidnapping investigation by the FBI's Seattle Division comes to a positive conclusion due to the efforts made by and extraordinary partnerships with Legat Mexico City, INM, the FBI's Los Angeles Division" and the "Bellevue Police Department and the Lakewood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department," according to the FBI's statement.

"David and I are ecstatic to announce that Sage and Isaac have been found safe and are home in Bellevue tonight," Helen wrote on Facebook. "We are so grateful to the FBI in Seattle and in Mexico for all they did to make this happen.

"And to all the wonderful people who kept us going for the last five months by supporting us through this page and in many other ways. Thank you all."