The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has declared an eastern North Carolina toddler missing after her mother took the child to South America amid a custody dispute.
Taylor Prince of Swansboro said he and his ex-girlfriend Allison Dowdey have been in a bitter custody battle over their daughter Hayden since last summer.
"It's been very expensive and, like many custody battles, expensive, frustrating, traumatic, unnecessary and unhealthy to a child to be put in the middle of,” he said.
However, Allison Dowdey, who lived in Emerald Isle before fleeing the country, said not-quite-two-year-old Hayden is at risk from a father she barely knows, and who also showed signs of violence in their dating relationship and of inappropriate behavior with the toddler.
She said Prince pleaded with her to terminate the pregnancy.
Prince responded, “I wish the private details of Hayden’s creation were kept private, but, to be clear, Allison approached me with intention to abort, then adopt, and 3 months ago legally attempted to give her up for adoption.”
Although he was in the delivery room when Hayden was born, Dowdey said Prince didn’t sign the birth certificate and she didn’t hear from him after they left the hospital.
"Drops us off at home, leaves, doesn't ask about her for the next year and a half,” Dowdey said.
She said Prince tried to rekindle their dating relationship after that 18-month period had passed, and she refused but allowed Prince to visit Hayden. Prince, however, said he reached out in attempt to be an active father for Hayden, and not to rekindle dating.
He said that happened when Hayden was 13 months old, not 18 months, and, "Since June 2023, Allison and Michelle Dowdey have consistently denied Hayden time with her father despite my numerous efforts and their baseless accusations."
Dowdey said she believed there were subtle signs of inappropriate behavior in Prince’s first interaction with the toddler. Prince denied those allegations.
He said, "Anything she has said has not been brought to the courts, has not been subject to the investigation and everything she has said has been absolutely meritless.”
Prince also said that he has court documents and messages between he and Dowdey that, "Indicate that I've financially supported Hayden and sent gifts since birth, even while being denied visitation."
Prince moved to eastern North Carolina to be closer to his daughter, and said he then petitioned the court to gain legal paternity, which was granted last December.
"I was doing everything I could to work out an amicable co-parenting situation, something healthy for our child,” he said. “At that point, I sought sole custody since she decided to give up her rights. At this point, I suspect this was an attempt or distraction or some sort of scheme to delay this and give herself time to flee the country.”
Legal paternity was granted just about a month after Prince said he was served adoption papers for his daughter.
Dowdey said that is one legal tactic she tried to take in the battle for sole custody of Hayden.
"Consent is always required by the mother and then it's required by an unmarried father who substantially supports and consistently visits the child, right? And he hasn't done those things, ”Dowdey said. She added, “The statute is black and white. I thought it would be black and white. So, I signed a consent for my parents to adopt her because leaving your country is a big step. I signed this consent and then I got legal advice that that's not going to work.”
Early last week, Prince was granted temporary legal custody of the toddler, after the girl’s grandmother, Michelle Dowdey, said in a Carteret County court hearing that Allison Dowdey and her father Paul left eastern North Carolina with the child and traveled to Costa Rica.
Michelle Dowdey also testified about the alleged inappropriate behavior, and was reprimanded by the judge, who said evidence of those allegations had never been provided to investigators or the court.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has listed Hayden as missing, and is asking anyone with information to get in touch with the Emerald Isle Police Department.
Allison Dowdy said because only her name was on the birth certificate, she was able to get Hayden a passport and book plane tickets to Costa Rica without question.
Court documents from both Carteret and Currituck Counties, signed by District Court Judge Paul Delemar last week, also show that warrants were issued directing law enforcement to take immediate physical custody of Hayden and take her to Prince.
Dowdy said after coming to a decision following a conversation with her attorney ahead of the hearing, she was already in Costa Rica when that court date took place.
"I can't do this. I can't put my baby in a situation that I believe is dangerous for her. I'm all she knows. I've been there since she was born. I promised to protect her from men like this,” she said, “I asked her if any laws (were) preventing me from leaving right now and she said no. I left my job, my house, my friends, my dogs, my family, everything I know, before he was added to the birth certificate.”
Prince responded, "During a formative time in a toddler's life, Hayden has been alienated from her father for the past eight months. I'd drive 20 hours to see her for two, then be denied that. Allison plays a large role in 'the only parent she knows.'"
And he will continue to bring Hayden back to eastern North Carolina, and he’s not on this journey alone.
"I have an incredible support system, my family, my friends, my community here in Swansboro and Emerald Isle, and the coastal areas. I'm relatively new to the area, but just from the moment I got here everyone's been so supportive. I have a great support network in my hometown in Knoxville. They're nine hours away, but they just feel like they're right at home,” he said.
Meanwhile Dowdey said she has found a lot of support in the country where she is now living.
"There's a very strong women's group in Costa Rica,” she explained, “Costa Rica has universal jurisdiction over physical and sexual abuse, so they prosecute these cases no matter where they occurred, and the courts work differently here.”
Dowdey is working with the National Institute for Women, an organization that works to combat violence against women in Costa Rica and, with their help, will pursue claims under that “universal jurisdiction.”
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, universal jurisdiction is generally used to prosecute serious human rights violations, like human trafficking, torture, and terrorism.
Prince issued this plea to his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child.
“Our daughter is so sweet and so strong but those little shoulders cannot bear the weight of your actions. I'm calling on you to do the right thing and bring our daughter home safely,” he said. As for his daughter, Prince said, “Hayden, you are my sunshine. Daddy’s gonna bring you home. Don't you worry. He's going to bring you home.”
For her part, Dowdey said Hayden is happy and settling in nicely at her new home in South America. "She's taught herself how to swim. She's not even two yet,” she said, “Toucans, she sees toucans not infrequently, just in the wild. And she loves the beach.”
Prince, however, is concerned for his daughter's safety.
He said that, “Due to her fleeing, and the substance abuse & mental health issues stated in adoption papers Allison consented to, I’m concerned for Hayden’s safety in Costa Rica.”
The U.S. State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues provides parents with resources to help them seek the return of, or access to, their children.
In 2022, an annual report shows that there were 657 active overseas abduction cases; 118 were resolved with the return of abducted children to the U.S. and an additional 117 cases were resolved in other ways.
When a child is wrongfully removed from or is being wrongfully retained in a country with which the United States has partnered under the Hague Convention, a parent can file an application requesting that the child be returned to the United States.
Costa Rica is one of those treaty partners.
Prince has set up an online fundraising page and said, "This fundraising is going to be used to locate and track down and safely return my daughter Hayden, and when she is found that that money and these efforts will go towards locating other abducted children.”
View the GoFundMe page HERE.
Anyone with information can provide tips to the U.S. Department of State online HERE.
