Salih Zeki Uces, International Parental Kidnapping, Florida 2017

Jacksonville, FL – A federal jury has convicted a man of taking his 2-year-old child to Turkey without his mother’s consent.

Salih Zeki Uces, a 39-year-old dual Turkish/US citizen, faces up to 3 years in federal prison for his role in the international parental kidnapping. His sentencing hearing is set for June 5, 2017.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Uces asked his estranged wife for an overnight visit with their child at a Jacksonville hotel on September 16, 2016. He promised to return the child the following day or the day after, but instead took the child to the Jacksonville International Airport and boarded a series of flights bound for Adana, Turkey.

Uces had planned the kidnapping in advance, rifling through his estranged wife’s personal items two days before taking the child and stealing her passport. He also viewed a draft divorce petition in her email.

Furthermore, Uces had signed a power of attorney over to his brother, allowing him to sell his car while he was in Turkey. On the day of the kidnapping, Uces closed out his safety deposit box at a local bank branch.

Uces refused his estranged wife’s requests to return the child until after he learned that a state court had issued an authorization for his arrest. He eventually returned to the United States with the child on November 10, 2016, and was arrested by FBI agents. The child was immediately returned to her mother.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Laura Cofer Taylor and Kelly Karase.

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