Plight of missing children focus of press conference

Tuesday, May 25, 1999 | 12:04 p.m.

Seven years ago, Larry Lee's Korean-born wife disappeared with their 4-year-old daughter, and the Sandy Valley resident hasn't seen the child since.

Lee's seven-year search may be the oldest in Nevada, moving up a notch when an 11-year search ended on May 20 in London when authorities found the son of Richard Carsello, who was abducted by Carsello's wife, Melody.

Lee, Carsello and Bianca Perez, whose son was kidnapped by his father last year, were to attend a 10 a.m. press conference today at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building to focus attention on the plight of missing children and their families.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa organized the press conference for National Missing Children's Day.

The Lees were divorced in 1991 and were given joint custody of Michelle, with the father having the child the first six months of the year and the mother, Mi-Young, having her the second six months.

"One day she showed up under the guise of visiting and said she wanted to take our daughter to see her brother in Los Angeles," Lee, a Sandy Valley resident who works in Las Vegas, said. "That was the last time I ever saw her."

Soon after, the court awarded Lee full custody.

Two years later his ex-wife was arrested in Los Angeles while coming through the customs office. The child wasn't with her. Lee said he doesn't know where his ex-wife had been, possibly visiting her parents in Korea.

She was brought to Nevada, where she made an initial court appearance and then skipped bail.

About two years ago authorities learned his daughter was enrolled in a school in Hawaii.

"But Clark County didn't have the funds to send someone over there to pick her up," Lee said.

Instead they contacted Hawaiian authorities, who visited the home and were told the child was not there at that time. When they returned, the mother and child were gone again, Lee said.

The former Mrs. Lee faces criminal charges, Lee said, including failure to appear in court and felony child abduction.

Although Richard Carsello knows where his son, Brandon, is he has yet to see him. English authorities refuse to allow a visit.

Brandon was 5 years old when he was abducted. Today he is 16 and has told police he doesn't want to see his father.

The former Mrs. Carsello was arrested by Scotland Yard authorities.

"Although I am eternally grateful to Attorney General investigator Maria Emeterio for her tireless efforts to locate my son, I now feel absolutely heartbroken that I couldn't see him or even give him letters and photo albums to prove my existence," Carsello said.

His ex-wife apparently told their son his father was dead.

"I don't know what's worse, not knowing where he was for 11 years, or finding him and hearing that he refuses to see me."

Bianca Perez last saw her son, Jacob, in Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 1998.

Investigators say the 1-year-old was abducted by his father, Desmond Moreland, after the family court system issued a no-contact order because of child abuse.