'Anti-government parents who kidnapped their toddler sons' now thought to be in Cuba and officials 'don't know how they will be able to extradite the children'

The Florida couple suspected of kidnapping their two sons from the woman's parents are in Cuba, authorities said Monday.


The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received information that the Hakken family had arrived on the island nation, according to a news release.


Investigators say they're working with the FBI and the U.S. State Department to verify their reports.
It wasn't immediately clear what, if anything, authorities could do to retrieve the family from Cuba. An email seeking comment from the State Department wasn't returned.






'Armed and dangerous': Joshua Hakken, 35, (pictured left) and his wife Sharyn, 34, (right) are believed to have tried an abduction before in Louisiana






International incident: Police are now trying to figure out where in Cuba the family is hiding out

The sheriff's office alleges that Joshua Michael Hakken entered his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa early last Wednesday, tied her up and fled with his sons, 4-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase.


Federal, state and local authorities had been searching by air and sea for a boat Hakken recently bought. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that the 35-year-old father recently bought a 25-foot 1972 Morgan sailboat with a blue hull with the word 'Salty' painted on it and white paw prints on both sides. The boat's whereabouts are unknown.

An inspection of a similar watercraft shows that Hakken likely bought it with the kidnapping in mind, as it has enough room to easily fit four people on board.


A man who owns a similar boat told local station WTSP that there is a bed space, a stove and plenty of storage room for food and water.






Abducted: Chase Hakken, aged two, (left) and his four-year-old brother Cole (right) were snatched by their 'anti-government' parents from their grandparents' home in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday morning





Clue: Officials searching for Cole and Chase Hakken came across the black 2006 GMC pickup belonging to the boys' father on the second floor of the John's Pass garage in Madeira Beach


New twist: Officials say suspected kidnapper Joshua Hakken recently bought a 25-foot 1972 Morgan sailboat with a blue hull, and they suspect he and his family are on it now

'This boat sails so well that one man can single-hand it in almost any conditions,' said owner Jim DeSanto.


'I don't think it's an accident. If he had this planned out, it wasn't an accident,' DeSanto said of Hakken's decision to pick that particular model of boat.







The truck that Hakken, his wife Sharyn and the boys had been traveling in was found late Thursday, abandoned in a parking garage in Madeira Beach.


Authorities say they had been looking up and down the entire Gulf coast from Pensacola to the Keys and the Intracoastal Waterway.











By land and by sea: The hull of the boat has the word 'Salty' painted on it and white paw prints on both sides (left), and officials believe the Hakkens planned all along to use the vessel in the abduction plot






Last sighting: The family were seen sailing in their boat underneath the John¿s Pass Bridge towards the Gulf of Mexico after ditching their truck

An Amber Alert for the boys has been issued in Florida, Louisiana and other states as part of standard kidnapping protocols.


The boys had been living since last year with their maternal grandparents, who were granted permanent custody Tuesday.


Joshua Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana, and he later tried to take them from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities have said.


According to Louisiana police, maternal grandmother Patricia Hauser noticed that her son-in-law had a gun when he came to her house to kidnap the children, and before he left she heard him say:


'Phase one completed. Ready for phase two.'


Crime scene: Officials say Joshua Hakken entered a home in the 14000 block of Shady Shores Drive owned by his sons' maternal grandmother, tied up the woman and abducted the boys


Wanted: Law enforcement officers stand in front of the home of Joshua Hakken at 3609 Sterling Avenue in Tampa as a K-9 dog searches the perimeter of the home

Authorities have previously characterized the Hakkens as 'anti-government.'


'These are not dumb people. They're very intelligent people with some emotional issues,' Hillsborough Sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said.


'Our goal is to still resolve this peacefully.'


Court documents released Friday state that Mr Hakken has previously planned to commit suicide and discussed taking 'a journey to Armageddon,' The Tampa Bay Times previously reported.


The sheriff's office issued a warrant for the arrest of Joshua Hakken, who faces two counts of kidnapping, two counts child neglect, two counts false imprisonment, one count burglary with a battery and one count grand theft auto.