Mom Turns Up With Daughter Decade Later, Tried Incriminating Ex-Husband For Daughter’s Disappearance


A New Hampshire woman has turned up with her daughter, a decade later after they both went missing in 2004. Genevieve Kelley turned herself into Lancaster authorities Monday. She had an elaborate plan to make it appear as though her ex-husband had hurt their daughter, Mary. Kelley and her ex-husband, Mark Nunes, were in the middle of a custody dispute when the disappearance happened 10 years ago.

Huffington Post reports that when the girl was 8-years-old, Kelley took her and fled to Central America in the fall of 2004. Since then, investigators have tried probing the disappearance with several tips over the years. Police believed in all that time that Nunes was unjustly accused, but he wasn’t charged with any crime.

It wasn’t until Mary turned 18 in February that her mother contacted her lawyer. Her attorney, Alan Rosenfeld, says she wants to “face a jury on her custodial interference charge.” The woman said her daughter is safe. After the woman, who’d been gone a decade with her daughter turned herself in, she was arrested, Deputy U.S. Marshal Jamie Berry said. He shares that Rosenfeld and Coos County Attorney John McCormick were arguing over bail.

Mark Nunes has no idea where his daughter is, but wants to learn more about her. He hopes to see her soon and isn’t giving up hope. He wants to know if she’s still alive and safe. It’s not unclear if Mary was in the courtroom today, but her lawyer says it’s likely Genevieve Kelley will testify on her own.

“She wants to be vindicated,” Rosenfeld says. “She wants a trial.”

Rosenfeld twice asked prosecutor McCormick this year if he’d concur with recommending to a judge that Kelley “voluntarily return and not be jailed unless she is convicted.” He argued that she wouldn’t be a flight risk, but the Coos County Attorney didn’t see it that way. He pointed out that she disappeared in the middle of a family court hearing 10 years ago.

“She fears there’s a chance she’ll be held, a fear that’s probably well founded,” McCormick said.

Rosenfeld had said if things didn’t go their way, “she’s just going to show up unannounced one day.”

Mary Nunes might be a witness in the trial. She was old enough to understand what was happening.

Mark Nunes and his wife issued a statement, The Concord Daily Sun reports.

“We would like to thank the U.S. Marshals and all of the investigators that have worked so hard on this case. We are heartbroken that Mary has still not been able to come forward or for Genevieve to tell authorities where she is. We want to say publicly that we as Mary’s family love her, look forward to her coming home and to keep an open mind as we believe that she has been told falsehoods and misstatements on the events of her youth. We would also like to thank the prosecutors in this case and we have high hopes that Genevieve will be prosecuted fully for her crimes. Mary, if you are reading this, we love you.”

[Image via U.S. Marshals Service]

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