Bart Critser is searching for Ebba and Silvia
A Baylor School graduate last summer won custody of his daughters, 11 and 5, in a court in Mississippi, but his Danish-born ex-wife took them on a trip to Denmark and he hasn't seen them since.
Bart Critser, who now lives in Houston, Tex., said he has since made several trips to Denmark and has won an order from the country's highest court saying Ebba and Silvia should be turned over to him.
The former Signal Mountain resident has since set up a website detailing his search for the daughters.
The couple were married for 10 years until the divorce last year.
Majken Trolle Wadum was allowed by a judge to take the children to Denmark to visit her mother, then she told Mr. Critser she and the girls would be staying in Denmark. She has been hiding out since then.
Mr. Critser, who has a consulting business, said the FBI, Danish Police, Interpol and the U.S. State Department are looking for them. There is an international warrant issued for Majken’s arrest.
He gave this timeline:
June 2017: Majken trips and falls in the middle of a Copenhagen street. A passerby assisted taking them to her apartment. Silvia was wearing soiled diapers that had not been changed in perhaps days. Passerby cleaned Silvia up and reported Majken to social services.
June 2017: Bart Critser, upon receiving call from social services, flies to Denmark to bring Silvia to his parents’ home in Signal Mountain, Tenn., where Ebba (the second daughter (Silvia’s sister), then 9) was spending the summer.
August 2017: Bart files for divorce and files for full custody of his children due to the endangerment that Majken has time and again subjected them to due to her long-standing alcoholism. The girls start school on Signal Mountain where they are happy, well adjusted and allowed to be children.
September 2017: Judge Robert Whitwell forever changes the trajectory of these girls’ lives when he orders them back to Mississippi to live with Majken (who, by then, had returned to Oxford.) Judge Whitwell orders joint-custody with Bart and held the passports of all four to prevent flight from the United States.
June 2018: Judge Whitwell grants Majken’s request to again travel to Denmark, this time with both daughters, during the month of July. He returns Majken’s passport to her, along with the passports of the girls. Bart’s legal team objects, stating that Majken is a clear flight risk, noting particularly that the children had indicated to Bart that they are “moving.” Judge Whitwell orders Majken to return to Mississippi with the children no later than Aug. 5.
August 5, 2018: Majken sends Bart an e-mail saying that she and the girls were staying in Denmark to start their new lives.
Sept. 11, 2018: Divorce finalized and full custody of the girls is granted to Bart.
Sept. 2018: Majken refuses to return to the United States with the girls. Bart travels to Denmark to begin the Hague Convention process.
Oct. 2018: Bart travels there again for court proceedings. The lower court rules that the children should return to the United States. Majken appeals to high court.
Dec./Jan. 2018/19: Bart travels there again twice for high court proceedings. High court judge orders a psychological evaluation of all four of them. A psychologist facilitates a session with Bart and the girls. This is the first time Bart is allowed to see his daughters since July 2018. Psychologist presents detailed report to high court judge.
Jan. 30, 2019: High court judge rules that the girls should return to the United States. Bart’s attorney requests a hand-over plan from Majken’s attorney by Feb. 4.
Feb. 6, 2019: Majken agrees for Bart to collect the girls on Feb. 6. Bart goes to her apartment – there is no answer at the door. Neighbors say they have not seen Majken and the girls in four days. Bart has made numerous attempts to find the girls. Danish police have searched the apartment. Majken’s mother and brother claim they do not know where she is. She has deleted her email account, her bank account and credit cards are frozen, Interpol has put a warning on her passport – and yet she has disappeared with the children without a trace.
More information can be found at the Bart Critser Search Website.