Related: Where is Mary Nunes?
"N.H. mother says fears guided her choice to flee, return" by Nestor Ramos, Globe Staff December 10, 2014
PLYMOUTH, N.H. —Genevieve Kelley resurfaced last month when she turned herself in without warning at a New Hampshire courthouse.
Now free on bail after three weeks in jail, Kelley is living in New Hampshire with her 9-year-old son. She awaits trial on charges of interfering with the custody rights of her daughter’s father.
Speaking publicly for the first time since she reemerged after a decade on the run, Kelley, 50, said she surrendered because a son born while she was a fugitive needs medical care. That child, John, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Kelley, a family practice doctor before she disappeared, said her family’s 10 years underground were difficult at times. But she said she never regretted her decision, and some of the stress of being a fugitive “fades away and you’re just living your life.”
“People have an amazing ability to adapt. You get used to things the way they are,” she said in an interview with the Globe.
For a decade, the case captivated the New Hampshire town of Whitefield, which the Kelleys called home, and radiated around the country. A manhunt began in Central America and stretched north and south. The story of the disappeared woman whose claims of abuse were doubted by police made national news. “America’s Most Wanted” aired a brief story about her; in recent months, CNN aired a special too.
But until this spring, the trail was cold.
In interviews this week, Kelley declined to discuss the circumstances of her return or provide details about where she and her daughter Mary spent the last decade.
Mary, now 18, remains in hiding and is listed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Scott Kelley, Genevieve’s husband, remains one of New Hampshire’s most wanted fugitives.
Genevieve Kelley, 50, said she surrendered because John needed medical care. “I said, ‘when Mary’s safe, I need to get him back,’ ” she said.
Mary is still being treated as an “endangered missing person,” said Deputy US Marshal Jamie Berry, who has been involved with the search from its outset.
Mary is healthy and safe, her mother said, and after turning 18 in February, is “able to make her own decisions, not being forced to do anything she doesn’t want to.”
The Kelleys did not surrender together, Genevieve Kelley said, because “we didn’t want the whole family separated. If we’re both in jail, that’s really bad for the kids.”
The family’s disappearance followed a bitter, long-running custody dispute in which Mark Nunes was accused of sexually abusing Mary, his daughter. Police and a court-appointed advocate said the accusations were unsubstantiated, and raised the specter of parental alienation — the notion that Kelley was poisoning Mary’s feelings toward her father.
Nunes was cleared by police, and was granted custody of Mary in December 2004.
But she was already gone....
And so am I.
--more--"
"Mother released on bail, had fled with child in 2004
A woman who turned herself in to authorities a decade after fleeing with her 8-year-old daughter during a custody dispute has been released on $50,000 cash bail. Genevieve Kelley of Whitefield disappeared with her daughter, Mary, into Central America in 2004 after her attempt to prove her ex-husband harmed the child backfired. Shortly after her daughter turned 18 in February and was no longer subject to the family court, Kelley, 50, made contact. Her lawyer said she wants to face trial on her custodial interference charge. Kelley, who turned herself in on Nov. 17, said her daughter is safe; authorities aren’t sure where she is (AP)."
