VicPD issued an appeal Thursday for a Victoria man to turn himself in at a Canadian embassy after it is alleged he illegally took his four-year-old autistic child to Indonesia.
Brent Erskine has been charged with abduction and disobeying a court order and is wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant.
“Today, we’re urging Brent to seek out a Canadian embassy and turn himself in,” Const. Matt Rutherford said.
Under a vacation agreement with the child’s mother, Agustina Wulandari, a landed immigrant from Indonesia, Erskine was supposed to take his daughter Samantha to Vancouver for a week on June 30, police said. Instead, Samantha and her father travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Through efforts of family members and police, the child was eventually dropped off with her maternal grandparents in Jakarta.
The last time Wulandari spoke with her daughter was two days ago. “She’s crying and saying: ‘I want a mommy. I want to go to the plane,’ ” a tearful Wulandari told reporters Thursday. “I said to her: ‘I will pick you up soon. Right now, just enjoy with grandma and grandpa.’
“I miss her so much. I really want to hug her. She’s a friendly child. She’s always, like: ‘Play with me.’ She always asks me everything.
“She’s my blessing. I really, really want her to come back to me.”
Erskine, a Canadian citizen, is believed to have travelled to Singapore to renew a visa. His whereabouts are unknown.
Police became involved when Samantha wasn’t dropped off as planned and her mother contacted them.
Victoria police have been in contact with RCMP and Global Affairs Canada to try to bring the child back home.
“We’re working to try to locate where Brent is and we’re at a juncture where we’re hoping that he will turn himself in,” Rutherford said.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said in a statement they are aware of an international child-abduction case in Indonesia.
“Canadian consular officials are in contact with the child’s family in Canada and are providing consular assistance. Consular officials in Jakarta, Indonesia, are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information,” the statement said.
“Due to the provisions under the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed.”
Wulandari said she became concerned when her ex’s behaviour around allowing her to communicate with her daughter began to change after he picked up the child.
On July 7, she contacted him to see if they were back in Victoria, but he said they were not.
She reported her daughter to police as missing July 8 after receiving an email from Erskine saying that he and his daughter were in Jakarta.
About two weeks later, on July 24, Crown counsel approved charges, Rutherford said.
