Mother Accused of Child Stealing : Party and Presents Mark Return of Missing Girl

Vicki Vick, wearing a pink dress that highlighted her red hair and freckles, trembled Tuesday as television cameras surrounded her, recording her return to California after 28 months of being on the run with her mother.

“I’m nervous,” the 11-year-old girl said when asked why she was shaking amid the people jammed into the offices of Santa Ana attorney Henry James Koehler, where a combination birthday and Christmas celebration was unfolding.

Vicki celebrated her 9th, 10th and 11th birthdays Tuesday along with the two Christmases she had missed with her father, Gerald Vick of Palmdale, since her mother allegedly took her from school in Lancaster on Jan. 24, 1983, and whisked her across the country.

Extradition Awaited

Meanwhile, her mother, Judith K. Vick, is in custody in Illinois awaiting extradition to California on charges of child stealing.

Koehler, who represented Gerald Vick during the search for his daughter, orchestrated the hectic celebration in his law offices that drew about 150 well-wishers for Vicki’s return.

Koehler said the mother first took Vicki in 1976 during a dispute with her husband. The couple later reconciled and lived in Lancaster until their 1982 divorce, when the father was granted custody of Vicki.

Since the day Judith Vick allegedly took the child from her school, the FBI, United Fathers of America and private investigators had tried to find them. Finally, on April 3, FBI agents arrested the mother in Springfield, Ill., after receiving an anonymous tip.

“We were always about a week behind,” Koehler said.

Mother Charges Abuse

The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services took custody of Vicki when her mother was arrested. The mother accused Gerald Vick of child abuse, but the Illinois agency last Thursday relinquished custody to the father when it was satisfied that the accusations against the father were unwarranted.

He then went to Illinois to retrieve his daughter and drive her back to California. Tuesday’s party started as soon as they returned from Illinois shortly before noon.

Koehler also used the return of Vicki to announce that he and three other attorneys who specialize in custody cases will begin a nationwide law firm to represent victims of child stealing.

“Our goal is to allow these children to have both parents, not just one,” Koehler said. “And when necessary, to go out and find those children.”