The little Aussie girl who, 20 years after she disappeared, found out her mother was her kidnapper speaks for the first time. A very intriguing real life story....check out below.... A new life, in a new country – Dorothy ‘Lee’ Barnett and little Savanna Todd. Everything appears picture perfect. But the happy smiles hide a secret – a mother’s decision to kidnap her own child. A 20-year mystery came to an end in November 2013 when Savanna and her mother Lee were found living under fake names for at least four years on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia – literally, on the other side of the world. Mother and former South Carolina woman Lee faced extradition back to the United States for taking her infant daughter, and possibly more than 20 years in jail. Meanwhile, her daughter has been living as Samantha Geldenhuys for two decades, with no idea of the story her mother kept hidden. “Up until this has all occurred, I never had a question in my mind that something like this had happened,” Samantha said. How it began The story begins in the US town of Charleston, South Carolina, rich with wealthy businessman, aristocrats and staunch conservatives. Patti Roth was best friends with Lee Barnett in Charleston, watching on as Lee had a whirlwind relationship with her stockbroker, Harris Todd III, in the early 1990s. While Lee is said to have lived life to the fullest, Harris, apparently, did not. “He never wanted children, [and] actually did not want to get married,” Patti said. “It was just totally different to what Lee wanted out of life.” When Lee fell pregnant soon after their wedding, Harris was not excited. “It broke her heart,” Patti said. “He wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. That was just not an option for Lee. “He ended up leaving Lee when she was two and a half months pregnant.” But 20 years ago, a Southern gentleman did not leave his pregnant wife. “Accusing Lee of having, or finding somebody to say she had a mental disorder – bi-polar disorder – was his way to justify leaving her,” she said. During Lee’s pregnancy, the pair waged a bitter legal battle. Harris launched a smear campaign against Lee – he took Lee to a psychiatrist, Dr Oliver Bjorksten, who diagnosed her with a type of bi-polar disorder, hyperthymic temperament, and he prescribed psychotropic medication. Lee refused it. Savanna was born, oblivious to the storm she was born into. The custody battle ended at the Charleston County Courthouse, when Harris’s legal team built a case around Lee being unfit to be a mother because of the mental condition, plus allegations Lee had been violent toward Harris. The legal team also hired private investigators to prove she had spent some time with five different men, including a married man to portray her as being promiscuous. The married man was Gordon King, Lee’s good friend. “It was a picture of Lee and I from behind, walking down the beach away from the camera, and me handing her a can of beer at sort of waist level, and as the photographer took the picture it looked as if we could possibly be holding hands,” Gordon said. The court also heard two affadavits from two psychiatrists stating Lee did not suffer from any mental conditions. “Something went wrong with that court hearing,” Patti said. “It should not have happened that way, they only looked at the testimony of one psychiatrist,” she said. After a twelve-day hearing, Judge Mallard awarded sole custody of baby Savanna to her biological father, Harris. Lee’s next door neighbour, Babs Murphy McCambridge, couldnt understand how a mother, who was still breast feeding, had lost her baby to a father working seventy hours a week. “My husband was bi-polar and I know what bi-polar is,” Babs said. “There was absolutely no sign of Lee being bi-polar - I saw her just about every day.” Babs accompanied Lee to pick up baby Savanna on weekends. She recalls being greeted by a shocking sight. “She had black and blue marks on her forehead, she had blood on her nose,” Babs said. “Lee saw the baby and said, ‘Oh, my God, what happened to the baby?’ and he didnt answer. “She asked him again and he said, ‘Oh, she just had a little spill’,” she said. Babs remembers going to the emergency room at Roper Hospital in Charleston, and the baby was diagnosed with concussion. Lee’s story Nine weeks after Harris gained full-time custody of baby Savanna, Lee Barnett filmed a video explaining her decision to kidnap her own child, which she left for her closest friends and family. The FBI raided their houses and seized all copies, except one. “It’s about time that somebody tells the true story,” Lee said in the video. “I just lost custody of my nine-and-a-half-month-old nursing baby to a very, very, evil, evil, man. “I promise and swear on my life that I will continue to take care of my daughter. I will keep her safe. I will never allow anybody to harm her again,” she said. After filming this video, Lee disappeared and did not return. By the time Harris Todd realised and alerted police, Lee had vanished. Having fled her home in South Carolina, she headed for Europe, stopping in Germany then France. Paranoid she had been found and with baby Savanna in tow, they moved into Malaysia, and then Singapore. Savanna, now Samantha, became the face of one of the biggest child abduction mysteries in US history, featuring on national prime time television, magazines and newspapers. But Lee and Samantha were a long way from South Carolina. They ended up in South Africa within two years, where the runaway mum met and fell in love with Juan Geldenhuys. Lee Barnett changed her name to Alex Geldenhuys, and Savanna then became Samantha, and soon she had a brother, Reece. Now, the memories of childhood bliss remain for Samantha, but the photos are pieces of a puzzle that only now are coming together. “She became the most incredible woman when she realised that she’d saved me,” Samantha said. “Whatever the case, she succeeded in what she wanted to do and it wasnt easy along the way. “She gave up everything that she loved, she knew, and she started anew just for me,” she said. Her stepfather, until recently, was the man who raised her. “He was a good man, he actually knew my mum and my background. “He took us in and he married her,” Samantha said. “I have heard and I have been told that he wanted this [secret] to be kept from me so that I remain his daughter, and he remains my father,” she said. They moved to New Zealand when Samantha was 12 years old, and ended up settling in Australia on the Sunshine Coast. Two years later, Juan and Lee – now named Alex – separated. A few years after that, Juan returned to South Africa. Samantha completed high school and is now undergoing a nursing degree in Townsville. Life was good, until she found out Juan was dying of bone cancer. “To say goodbye to a man like that is pretty difficult,” Samantha said. “I couldnt do it without my Mum by my side and I asked her if she was willing to come over with me and support me, and she did. “She had to get a second mortgage on the house to pay for her ticket to fly over, it put a big dent into our savings,” she said. It is safe top say flying internationally would have put Alex on edge. Two years ago South African friends had questioned her after she had mistakenly called Samantha Savanna. These former friends investigated, and eventually rang Harris, without Alex knowing. It took two years for the FBI to finally arrest her. More stories from Today Tonight Familys chilling encounter Keeping kids safe online Dawson murder mystery “She just said there had been an event twenty years ago, she just said she was being arrested due to her having a previous marriage and conceiving me within that marriage,” Samantha said. “And I called back within a couple of minutes and said, ‘Does that mean Dads not my dad?’ and she said, ‘He protected you’. “I just remember saying, ‘Dads just been taken away from us, they cant take you’. “I wasn’t able to get that last goodbye or that last ‘It’s going to be okay, I’ll look after you’,” Samantha said. Alex was charged with international parental kidnapping and passport violations. Who is Samantha? Samanthas adamant she suffers no identity crisis. However, she does not intend to reclaim her original name. “Savanna can be a remembrance of what happened twenty years ago, but Samantha is who I am and who I will be,” she said. Alex is now behind bars in a Queensland jail awaiting extradition to the US. She faces up to 23 years in prison. Samantha visits her mum every few days. An uncertain future A world away from where her life began, Samantha Geldenhuys faces an uncertain future. “I backed my Mum on the first day because I knew who she was and I knew what she did would be for a valid reason. Now, I’ve been raised not to judge until I see fit and Ive read her side, and Ive read all the documents and I feel that she needs to be heard.” All Alex’s friends on the Sunshine Coast are standing by mother Alex, even after hearing her story. Bruce and Judy Michell have spent months compiling evidence to have her freed. “She has been terribly wronged and I cant leave a friend sitting in jail without giving it a darned good go to get her out of jail,” Bruce said. no reason. Bruce and Judy have uncovered eighteen affidavits that were barely mentioned in the judgement. “She was never harmful or violent to us at all.” “I dont believe she has any bi-polar or strain of bi-polar.” “Shes the calmest, sweetest, most caring and thoughtful person Ive ever met.” The judgement of Samantha’s mother read: “The psychological and emotional problems experienced by the mother, if left untreated, will create conflict and havoc in the child’s life and she will suffer accordingly.” But the real answers remain with the man who fought so hard to paint Lee as a bad mother. Harris Todd, the father Samantha has never known, was unwilling to explain what forced his young wife to take such a drastic decision two decades ago. But it may have been his own behaviour that led to him losing his daughter. “He needs to prove that hes looking for a relationship with me rather than becoming vindictful (sic) about my Mum and her actions,” Samantha said. But there are certainly two people who are dying to meet Samantha again – her uncle, Cliff, and grandmother, Dotty. “Until the FBI got involved, I thought she would be back next week, and then I thought she would be found, then probably twelve years ago I started giving up hope,” Dotty said. Her daughter’s disappearance has haunted Dotty Barnett for decades. “I saw her every place I went for five years at least,” she said. “Harris lost a baby, but I lost a baby and a daughter.” Lee’s brother, Cliff, is determined the injustices of the past do not destroy his sister’s future. “She was backed into a corner and she did what she absolutely thought she had to do at that time, and she had no choice in her mind,” Cliff said. Sam is now nervously waiting for her Mums extradition hearing on Monday. Alex is worried about facing the same courthouse and legal system back in the US – the maximum penalty for the charges against her is a 23-year prison sentence. “For her to be punished like that is just something that breaks my heart,” Samantha said. “I have recently found out she won’t be allowed back in the country. She won’t see my first born [child], she won’t see me get married. “It’s not something I want to think about, I think she deserves to be there.”
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 08:37:54 +0000
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