A 5-year-old Swedish girl living in Minnesota is being ordered to return to her father’s care in Sweden against her mother’s wishes.
Olivia MacInnes is caught up in a tense international legal battle between her divorced parents, the Star Tribune reported.
Courts in her home country have ruled that Olivia’s mother, Mariah Talbot, abducted the 5-year-old and took her from Sweden to the U.S. without her father’s permission.
International custody battle: Olivia MacInnes, 5, left, is caught up in a tense international legal battle between her divorced parents, Mariah Talbot, pictured, and Mikael Lejon, not pictured
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank on April 9 ordered Olivia to be quickly returned to her father.
The young girl’s grandmother is expected to arrive in Minneapolis this week to take her back to Sweden, where she was born.
‘I want to be with my mommy,’ little Olivia told the Star Tribune.
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The young girl’s father said in an e-mail to the metro newspaper that Olivia’s family and friends are looking forward to her return.
‘I am so thankful for all people involved in helping us get Olivia home,’ wrote Mikael Lejon, who shares joint custody with Olivia’s mother.
Talbot said she didn’t know about her home country’s custody laws when she brought Olivia to live with her in Big Lake, Minnesota.
Torn: 'I want to be with my mommy,' little Olivia told the Star Tribune
She said she met and married Lejon, her second husband, in Sweden and Olivia was born.
The marriage fell apart within a year, she said, and Olivia spent most of her living with her mother, while spending a few days a month with her father.
‘I don’t know if I will ever see her again,’ the girl’s mother told the Star Tribune.
She said that she had left two of her older children, an 11-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy, from her first marriage in Sweden. Both children are still there, where they are being looked after by her first husband and his parents.
Talbot said she and her new husband are expecting a child and plan to stay in Minnesota.
Not going back: Talbot said she and her new husband are expecting a child and plan to stay in Minnesota