Police Convince Woman to Return From Mexico to Face Abduction Charges

The woman said she fled the country to protect her daughter from her verbally abusive father

A woman who allegedly abducted her daughter and fled to Mexico in 2005 honored a police detective's plea to return to California and face abduction charges in court, police announced Friday.

The mother, Gabriela Barrett, took her then-3-year-old daughter in an attempt to escape the child's verbally abusive father and evaded Mexican authorities for nearly eight years, according to a release by the Burbank Police Department.

Since the alleged abduction, Burbank Police Detective Dave Kleinfeld devotedly searched for the missing child -- who was listed in the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children -- and found Barrett's adult son in the process, police said.

Through her adult son, Barrett communicated with Kleinfeld as he encouraged her to come back to the United States with her daughter.

After hiding out just outside of Tijuana, Mexico, since 2005, Barrett agreed to Kleinfeld's plea and surrendered to Customs and Border Protection at the border crossing on Wednesday, where she was taken into custody, police said.

The mother was booked at the Burbank Jail and will be charged with maliciously concealing a child from a lawful custodian, the release stated. Her daughter, now 11 years old, is with a family member.

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