Toddler Kidnapped by Father in 1976 Found
Thirty years after she was kidnapped by her father when she was only 21-months old, a Michigan woman was found by authorities living in Arizona, now 32 years old with a daughter of her own.
Genevieve Rachel Nielsen was picked up by her father on Mother's Day weekend in 1976 for an overnight visit from her mother's home. Her mother, Laura Gooder, never saw her again.
This Mother's Day weekend, Gooder, who has remarried and has three other children now, was contacted by Oakland County authorities who informed her that her daughter had been found in Arizona.
The news was emotional for both mother and daughter.
"It's bittersweet," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told the Detroit Free Press. "She has complete joy and relief that her daughter is alive, but it is a painful reminder of the 30 years she was without her daughter on Mother's Day."
"The daughter believed her mother had been killed in a car accident a long time ago. The daughter is just reeling," Bouchard said. "She was shocked... Her whole life is a house of cards built on lies."
Kidnapper Found in Prison
Oakland County investigators never closed the case of the missing girl. Earlier this year, deputies contacted the U.S. Marshals office, which issued a federal arrest warrant, and their joint investigation lead to a tip that indicated that the girl's father, Eric Douglas Nielsen, was serving time in an Arizona prison under an assumed name.
Nielsen has been charged with kidnapping and flight to avoid prosecution.
Sheriff Bouchard said Laura Gooder and her daughter, whose name is being withheld, have each other's contact information, but as of Sunday afternoon he did not believe they had contacted each other.
"I am keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for her to call. She had been told I was dead," Gooder told the Detroit News.
"They're both just trying to come to grips with it," Bouchard said.
See Also:
Mom's Long Search for Her Daughter Ends
Woman Kidnapped As Toddler in '76 Found
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Comments
Geneveive must be devastated to learn that her father had lied to her about her mother. Hopefully both mother and daughter can put this horrible ordeal behind them and finally start building a relationship that each one of them deserves.