Single father reunited with kidnapped daughter after nearly 30 years

April 30, 11:20 AMSingle Parenting ExaminerBarbara Thompson

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Dirk Pratt's treasured photo of his daughter

In 1982, Dirk Pratt's wife took their 2-year old daughter home to Ecuador for a "short trip" to help start a family tile business.  He stayed behind in the US.  The last time he spoke to his wife, she put 2-year old Francesca on the phone and she told her father, "I love you, Daddy."  Soon after that conversation, Mr. Pratt's mother-in-law notified him that his daughter had been bitten by a mosquito and died. 

Calls and letters to his wife went unanswered.  Attempts by the grieving father to get information from the Ecuadoran consulate were unsuccessful.  Each year on Francesca's birthday, Mr. Pratt says he stared at the only picture he had of his daughter and wrote her a letter, then burned it so that the smoke could carry his message to his daughter in Heaven.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, Francesca's mother told her that her father was killed in a diving accident when she was a baby.  Francesca says that she never completely beleived the story and always had a feeling that her father was alive.

Mr. Pratt recently watched the movie Wanted where the main character Googles his own name.  On a whim, Mr. Pratt decided to Google his name.  He found a message on a discussion board from 2007 where a young woman posted that she was looking for Dirk Pratt, she was interested in making contact with him, and she was his daughter.

In March of this year, the two were finally reunited after nearly 30 years of separation.  Francesca announced that she is expecting a baby.  She has recently moved in with her father so that they can get to know each other better.

As heartwarming as this story is, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.  Francesca says that she has forgiven her mother for the lies.  Mr. Pratt says that while he doesn't hate his ex-wife and mother-in-law, he can never forgive them for keeping his daughter from him for 27 years.