An Indonesian and a mother,Ela Herawati, is undergoing an emotional trauma after her ex-husband and American, Karl Werner, 35, abducted their five year old daughter, Cecilia, and he is yet to be found.
Herawati had visited Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam in July, 11th, only to find her once stout and good looking ex-husband, Karl Werner in a very poor state of health. The man had told Herawati that he has been diagnosed with bone cancer and would love to meet their daughter.
Herawati in Frantic search for Cecilia
Herwati and Werner then moved to a hotel in Oscar hotel on Nguyen Hue street, District 1, Saigon. The next morning, the estranged family moved into a furnished apartment where he told Herawati that he would be moving to Hanoi to start his chemotherapy right after they had left the country.
So everyday,Herawati makes it her duty to drop off their daughter everyday to meet Karl, and would later pick her up every night. Sometimes, she would help tidy the room.
In July 22,2014, Werner and Herawati had a divorce, according to her ; an Indonesian court granted her the custody of their daughter.
She received the favoured ruling after providing evidence of Werner cheating on her with another woman. The court also ordered him to pay $500 every month for child support. But Werner had not paid a cent since the court ruling.
The once lovey-dovey had their marriage in 2008,and had their daughter in 2010 in Turkey.
After the divorce with Werner, Herawati moved on by getting a new job in Manila, Philippines. She was working for an Indonesian restaurant chain, and also got a new husband. She married a French and father of two.
She also keeps in touch with Karl, and let him know what his happening with Cecilia, hoping that they could be friend and raise the child together as a team.
The Gameplay And The Dribble
A lady had contacted Herawati from Vietnam, telling her she would like to use Cecilia for a photo shoot, and will be happy to pay her a watering amount of $9,000.
Herawati contacted her ex-husband if he knows anything about the offer from Vietnam, something he denied.
Soon after that, Werner came up with the idea that he is being diagnosed with bone cancer, and he feared the worst will happen soon. In a Whatsapp chat, Werner said, ;
I want to make it right before I meet God
Pitying his Karl's condition, she decided to meet him in Ho Chi Minh with their daughter. On getting to Ho Chi Minh, the Karl, Herawati and Cecilia went to the US Consulate to apply for the passport for their little girl,Herawati had to do this because of the condition of Carl, who she thinks might soon die.
While coming to Vietnam, Herawati bought with her $4000 and €500, money she planned to deposit into her daughter's savings.
On July 15, Werner planned a little family vacation at the Lan Rung Resort, Vung Tau. They all chartered a taxi to the resort.
On the same day around 1pm, Werner gave Herawati a spa voucher and a tip money she could give her masseuse. When she got back to her room, she found out that it was locked, she called on the hotel front desk to unlock the room, and found her husband cane in the room.
At the time, it was clear that she had been lied to all along, Herawati rushed to the front desk to explain that her little girl had just been abducted, she would later find out that her money has also been stolen.
Werner had paid for the hotel, and later left a note for Herawati in the hotel. According to the CCTV footage released to Herawati, Werner had left the hotel with the 5 year old and a Vietnamese lady that was later identified as "An"
CCTV photo showing Werner leaving with the daughter
Werner has also asked the same taxi man that had dropped the family at the resort in the afternoon to pick Herawati around 5am the next day and drop her off at the airport.
Herawati claimed that the taxi man dropped her off at the airport, and asked her to leave the country, instead, she collected the man mobile phone and she wrote the 3 numbers that he had dialled in the past hour.
Who Is Who
Herawati case had appeared on different local media and Expats Facebook pages in Saigon, asking for help, and looking at how she could get back her daughter. A local attorney,Nguyen Thi Diem Phuong, later picked up on the case and assured Herawati of taking up her case Pro Bono.
The lawyer collected the number Herawati had copied from the taxi man and called one of the numbers which linked to the Vietnamese lady that had abducted the girl with Werner.
The lady,Nguyen Phuc Quynh , said that she is Werner's best friend, and had a discussion with the attorney. The lawyer asked that Quynh arranged a meeting with herself and Werner.
The meeting happened, and the lawyer said she offered to offer a custody-sharing agreement that will allow for both estranged couple have access to the young girl, but before anything, he needs to call Herawati and let her know that the daughter is saved with him.
Werner said he would think about all that was discussed and get back to the lawyer, Nguyen Thi Diem Phuong.
Instead, Werner called Phuong, and was crying, accusing both Herawati and her new husband of denying him access to their daughter. He claimed that if he allow the little girl to leave, he won't be able to see her anymore.
He also said that their daughter had said the new man is a devil, and had drawn some art to describe the man, like using "fangs and things"
Diplomatic Issues
The Indonesian embassy had written to the USA embassy about what is happening, and ask that the US embassy take the appropriate action on behalf of Herawati's daughter, an American.
But the American embassy has no information about Werner or the daughter information. They had contacted the Vietnam immigration department to confirm if Werner is still in Vietnam, and they confirmed that he has no record of leaving the country.
Cecilia and Herawati
Previous cases before now have seen ladies abducting kids of their husband and crossing into Cambodia. Last year, an American, Ken Smith, was in the same situation after his ex-Vietnamese wife took away their two kids and travelled out of Vietnam to Cambodia. Social media or local media never helped.
Revelations And Other Things
Werner had only rented the apartment in district 1 few days before Herawati and her daughter arrives Ho Chi Minh city. When the attorney visited the original house Werner and his mystery woman were living in district 7, she received a text message that says;
I know you guys are trying to find my place but believe me you are pushing [the child] in dangerous[sic], But you will see hows[sic] things will go
Also, Herawati received a text message asking her to stop the search of the child, else she might start seeing some explicit pictures of herself online.
Agony Of A Mother
Herawati had not seen her beautiful daughter for 3 weeks...
Read the Karl Werner, Ela Herawati and Cecilia update here