A mother with what police describe as deteriorating mental health and possible substance abuse problems was arrested on Saturday for suspicion of abducting her 8-year-old twin boy and girl from the legal custody of the children’s father.
Shahrzad Talieh has surreptitiously taken the children’s passports from their father’s house, police said, and had been at LAX trying to get tickets to Copenhagen.
But she was unable to get a flight, and police tracked her and the children to a friend’s home in Canoga Park today, according to Irvine police Department. She was arrested and the children returned to their legal custodian, their father.
Talieh had picked up the twins from Portola Springs Elementary School in Irvine on Thursday, a day that she did not have custody, police said.
“At some point prior to picking up the children, the suspect is believed to have removed their passports from her estranged husband’s home,” police said in a report.
The abduction was reported to police. Friends and family of Talieh reported that they had no contact with her and were concerned about the children’s safety, due to her deteriorating mental health and possible substance abuse.
Detectives learned on Friday that Talieh unsuccessfully tried to buy airlines tickets out of the Los Angeles International Airport to Copenhagen.
Her vehicle was found in a parking structure at the airport, but it was determined that Talieh and the twins had not boarded any flights and were no longer at the airport.
Investigators determined that after leaving the airport, Talieh and the children went to a friend’s home in Canoga Park. The children, who are safe and unharmed, have been released to their father.
— City News Service
