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Wanted: Man who kidnapped son
Jeffrey Ford Hanson, left, and Billy Hanson. (FBI)
The Seattle FBI office has turned to Honolulu FBI for help in a parental kidnapping case in which the suspect may have sailed to Hawaii (or beyond) with the missing child.
On or about Sept. 4, 2014, non-custodial parent Jeffrey Ford Hanson, 46, set sail from Seattle with his 9-year-old son, Billy Hanson, in a sailboat called Draco, and neither has been seen since. Seattle FBI has consulted with nautical experts from the U.S. Coast Guard who advised that, based on the boat and Jeffrey Hanson’s sailing abilities, it is possible for him to have sailed great distance in the Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands.
Accordingly, the Honolulu FBI is reaching out to American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and all sovereign nations of the Pacific if they can provide any information about this case.
Honolulu FBI Special Agent Tom Simon said, “Our focus is helping the agents at the Seattle FBI recover Billy safely, so he can go back to his mom where he belongs. Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific have a vibrant sailing and nautical community, and we are appealing to that community to be on the lookout for this sailboat and contact authorities with leads.”
He clarified, though, that the FBI has no specific information that Jeffrey Hanson has made it to any specific island in the Pacific.
Simon said that Jeffrey Hanson is a known drug abuser with a volatile personality and is currently wanted by the FBI for International Parental Kidnapping. (FBI)
