Information from Roy on the Koyama case:
My Story:
My story begins back in August of 2007 when I met Trina and began talking to her on a regular basis. She was planning on going back to Costa Rica and leaving her 10 year old daughter again. After several conversations she decided to stay here in the US and we started seeing each other on an intimate level. I found out she had to move out of her apartment and needed a place to stay that was close to her work, so I let her move in with me. It didn't take long for me to realize I had made a big mistake. Her habits and lifestyle were not something I agreed with, and one Friday I sat down with a good friend discussing my problems with him. It took about an hour and I decided I needed to ask her to move out and that we had made a mistake, which I planned on doing on the following Monday. Well, that Sunday night rolled around and she approached me with a funny look, then showed me the pregnancy tests that were all positive. At this point I didn't know what to do except the!
"right" thing. I told myself I would have to see past the things I didn't agree with and make the "best" of our situation.
Things weren't horrible and in fact I found myself falling in love with her during the pregnancy and asked her to marry me on January 26, 2008, and she said yes. We were going to get married in August 2009 after the baby was born and we were settled in to our new lives. Emily Alina Koyama was born July 5, 2008 and the birth was incredible. Trina and I really bonded (at least in my mind) and it seemed like everything was going to be great.
Well... things didn't work out the way we planned. I noticed her behavior was changing and Trina was becoming more aggressive with me and the kids. She often raised her voice and mistreated her own daughter right before my eyes. I didn't feel like I should step in between them and cause problems in our home, so I let it slide (should have trusted my gut). I thought it must be post-pardum and just left it at that. September 2008 is when it all fell apart. We had a disagreement one morning and next thing I knew it, Trina was in my face getting very loud. She had set Emily in her swing and my youngest son was right there when she began accusing me of things that I wasn't guilty of. You see, the night before I had come clean with her about my past (which was over 10 years ago). I never claimed to be a saint, but one thing I am not is a bad person. She took it to the next level and began to shove me and pound on my chest in front of my son, so I attempted to exit the hom!
e through the garage and she blocked my path, so I put my hands on her shoulders and moved her out of my way with little force.
I left to work, then realized my son had witnessed all the mess created and I turned back for him. When I got back she was on the phone with family, and she told me she was leaving me... (she'd done it twice before so I wasn't worried about her being gone for long). Once again I should have listened to my gut and let her go, but I wanted a family and a family life so I pursued her to come back home. This is when I found out she had put a restraining order against me for putting my hands on her. So I went and got her served with a restraining order to protect myself, since she was the one that really got physical. After 2 weeks we decided it was best for her to come back and we would drop both orders (that's why there is no record, they were dismissed). So she came back and began to be very loving, almost too much... but who was I to question the woman I planned on spending the rest of my life with?
I should have seen the red flags from before when she told me how she left her first husband and daughter to live in Costa Rica with another woman (yes, she is bisexual and that's one thing I didn't like from day one and the fact she left her 4 month old baby girl for another woman in Costa Rica). I ignored these red flags since I thought she had changed... boy was I wrong, in fact Trina and her sister had been planning the kidnapping since September 2008. I wonder sometimes if she wasn't trying to set me up the entire relationship? I have the testimony from her sister in Costa Rica openly admitting the planning of the abduction. Right there I knew I was going to win the court decision in Costa Rica...
So, we dropped the orders against each other and went back to life as we knew it, or at least I thought. It was sometime in November 2008 when Trina told me of a "surprise" family reunion in Costa Rica and her sister was paying for flights out there. Trina asked me to sign a release for Emily to get a passport, and I didn't think anything of it since we were getting along so well. She was putting on an incredible act for me and the kids telling me that we would grow old together, and the kids would be in the wedding that summer.
The rest is history, on February 2, 2009 I got a phone call at work around 9am and it was a lady telling me that my future wife was planning on kidnapping my daughter. I asked who it was and the person told me, "it's somebody that cares". After the call I immediately went home to see what was going on and spoke to Trina about it. She told me someone is messing with me or jealous of our lives. I really didn't understand what was going on so I went back to work around 10:30am, got back to work and called her, but to no answer... I got a really funny feeling and went back home to find all of Emily's and Trina's belongings gone by 11:30am. There was a note on the table with her engagement ring telling me how unhappy she was and that she needed space from me. I was very upset, especially since I had just bought us a brand new home and was excited about our future. I found out later that the person who called me was the step mother of her oldest daughter.
I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind and didn't know what to do next... so I waited a few days and went to the police where they jumped on the case and within 24 hours had a felony warrant for Trina's arrest. I finally figured out what my next steps had to be. NCMEC and the Department of State got involved which gave me a light at the end of the tunnel to focus on at the time.
Several months had passed and Trina was sending out emails from the laptop she stole from me to clients, friends, and family telling them how I am abusive, a child molester, and several other tactics to make people question me. It didn't work, and my friends, family, and others have come to my support like I would have never imagined in million years. I finished my Hague Application and submitted it in the Summer of 2009, and was accepted in August 2009. Next I went to court in the US for custody of my daughter, and I was denied until I could get Trina served with papers. So one of my friends hired an attorney in Costa Rica to have Trina served which took about a week. I went back to the courts here and provided proof of her being served and won the custody judgment. The next thing that happened is I was scheduled to appear in court in Costa Rica. The court date was January 25, 2010 2 days before my birthday. I was hoping my birthday gift would be bringing Emily home with me... boy was I wrong. The judge wouldn't even let me take pictures of Emily for her brothers to see.
I began to get really angry with the country of Costa Rica, but realized I must always take the higher road. I finally got the winning judgment in Costa Rica in May 2010, but now the appeal process is under way, so I contacted Congressman Blunt's office for help. The Congressman's office showed deep empathy towards me and began their legal process of helping me. The Congressman wrote a letter to the Ambassador of Costa Rica telling them he is actively involved with my case and would like to see a quick resolution since the time line has been delayed so far out from the initial court proceedings.
Today I read a letter from the Costa Rican Ambassador in response to the letter Congressman Blunt sent on my behalf. It shows that these cases often take up to 2 years and the letter sent had no effect what-so-ever. I sit here wondering when I will get to see my daughter again?
