FBI seeks public’s help in finding boys in alleged parental abduction case

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the public’s help in an alleged parental abduction case involving two Washington boys who were last seen at Los Angeles International Airport.

Brothers Sage and Isaac Cook, of Bellevue, Wash., were seen Aug. 28 at the airport and may be in the company of their mother, Faye Ku, 41, who previously tried to leave the country with them, authorities said. Sage is 15, and Isaac is 9.

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The boys live in Bellevue with their father, who has full custody. The FBI says Ku may have forged a court order for a supervised visit, leading the children’s father to send them to California for a brief visit.

Ku tried to leave the country with Sage and Isaac in 2013, but they were detained before they could board a flight to Taiwan, the FBI said in a statement. Ku was arrested and charged with custodial interference.

The father has had full custody of the boys since 2014 and, before that, shared custody with Ku since their divorce in 2009, authorities said. Investigators found a letter at her California residence in which she “blamed the children’s father [for] trying to control them and asked them to leave the children alone,� the FBI said.

The boys’ family has set up a website asking for help finding the boys and said they were due to fly from Los Angeles to Seattle on Aug. 30 but never boarded the plane. The family is offering a $25,000 award.

“All attempts to contact the boys or their mother have failed,� the website says.

On a Facebook page called “Help find Sage and Isaac Cook,� the boys’ father wrote a message to Sage on his birthday on Sept. 27.

“We hope, wherever you are, that today brings you happiness and good fortune,� the message says. The father reminisces about spending past birthdays at the Seattle Zoo, at a bowling alley, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The family moved to Seattle on Sage’s 5th birthday, the post says, and, with all of their belongings in transit, they stopped at a pastry shop to celebrate.

“Even though we can’t see you, we are thinking about you,� the post says.

Sage is described by authorities as biracial (Asian and white), 5-foot-6 and 109 pounds. The family says he is “mature and responsible for his age, but quite reserved.�

Isaac, who is also biracial, is described as 4-foot-6 and 64 pounds. His family says he is “a very outgoing and talkative boy.�

The boys and their mother are likely traveling with the boys’ toddler half brother, Zephyr Ku.

Authorities say Faye Ku has contacts in several states, as well as in Tijuana, Mexico. A Washington state felony warrant for custodial interference has been issued for Ku.

According to the FBI, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department conducted the local investigation and is working with agents and police in California, Washington and elsewhere.

Twitter: @haileybranson | Google+

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