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Mother and Daughter Reunited After Bitter Int’l Custody Dispute
posted (January 16, 2019)

Imagine not seeing or holding your child for a year, or not knowing if your child is safe. That nightmare is exactly what 41 year old Orange Walk mother Raquel Cocom endured.  This is after her baby's father, Andre Timofeev took their 3 year old daughter, Vera to the US and never returned. But as we reported, Cocom took the matter to US courts and won under the Hague Convention in early January.

And, yesterday in North Carolina, she was re-united with her little girl. It was one of the happiest moments of Cocom’s life. Courtney Weatherburne went to visit Cocom and baby Vera in Orange Walk on their first full day together in Belize. It was very touching. Here is that story

Raquel Margarita Cocom spent her afternoon with her baby girl Vera. They were at a friend’s house and baby Vera felt right a home rocking on this miniature donkey and reading inside her make-believe princess castle. Margarita thought she would never be able to be a part of these precious moments, but all that worry and sadness fell away.

When she was reunited with her baby girl after a year.

Raquel Margarita Cocom - Mother
“That first moment when we went to pick her up. I wanted to cry but I know I couldn’t cry because if she see me cry. But it was a joyful moment because she recognized me my fear was that she wouldn’t have recognized me and that they when we reach, we had fun, she hugged me, she kissed me, it was like she missed me. Until now I still am happy enjoying her.â€￾

Courtney Weatherburne
“Looking at her playing like this, describe the feeling?â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“It is like I missed so much that I am learning again because I don’t know how she was like there, what she was doing so I am learning again and I am enjoying because I see her happy.â€￾

But it has been anything but happy times throughout the year. On November 5th 2017. Vera’s dad, Russian National Andre Timofeev left with their daughter to South Carolina. He told Margarita they would just take a two week vacation to visit his mom. She signed a permission form and they were off but he didn’t return; instead, he asked for more time.

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“He start in extend the days, he start to extend the days so when I realize something is happening here that is when I seek for help. So when I start to search his documents and his phone and translate it, I said this can’t be happening, I said no no no, I can’t that is when I moved fastâ€￾.

Courtney Weatherburne
“He never told you about these plans and he lied to you about the visa, he said they were going on a tourist visa and that wasn’t the case.â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“Yes it was like that that he told so like I said when I discovered that okay my child isn’t coming back so it was like what, what to do, I can’t just sit there and see that my daughter is not coming back.â€￾

Courtney Weatherburne
“This is something he had been planning for some time.â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“It looked like he starts to plan it when they discovered I was pregnant because it looked like he was petitioned so when they said I was pregnant they started a process with my daughter something I didn’t know.â€￾

Courtney Weatherburne
“So this is something he was planning and discussing with his mom in South Carolina.â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“Yes and he his mom used to forward plans and he didn’t tell me I wasn’t aware of this.â€￾

Courtney Weatherburne
“Throughout this year you have just been fighting and fighting in court through The Hague Convention.â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
â€￾Yes like I tell you Courtney it is a year fighting, all my savings, all my jewellery has gone but it was for a worthy cause to have my baby backâ€￾.

Courtney Weatherburne:
“There were periods through this year that he didn’t communicate with you, you didn’t hear anything from him so you had no idea how your baby was doing.â€￾

Raquel Margarita Cocom
“When the papers start to flow, he get some papers from The Hague convention from court, from there I didn’t know anything about my daughter, it was like okay that was like 5 or 6 months or more  I could say, I can’t recall right now but not knowing about her. I used to just sit and cry because you dint know nothing about your daughter, my hope is just that she is being okay and I say wow I just want to know, I would call Elisa and tell her this is killing me not knowing about my daughter but I just pray every night that she be okay that everything is okay with her and that she is not sick, it is a battle of one year, there would be times that I just want to throw the towel because it is so heavy on you, it is something that you have to fight every day, sometimes not having money that you have to do this, you have to do that with Ms. Elisa we had to beg.â€￾

But all the work and sacrifice paid off. Human Rights Defender Elisa Castellanos says they can breathe a sigh of relief because Vera is here to stay.

Elisa Castellanos - Human Rights Defender
“The ruling is passed and the ruling is now irreversible, the ruling states that there is an order to return the child to Belize.â€￾

Now Margarita and little Vera can focus on mother-daughter bonding. 

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