Mom makes tearful plea for return of 2 sons
NEWTON – With their tearful mother at his side, Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch reached out to the media and public Monday to ask for help bringing two young Hopatcong boys safely back home.
Local, state and federal authorities have spent the last month looking for 8-year-old Parker Dohm and 7-year-old Jaxon Dohm, since they allegedly were abducted by their father in early February.
The father, Kristopher Dohm, failed to return the boys to their mother on Feb. 9, setting off a nationwide search.
"It is our hope that you will be able to assist us in the speedy, safe and healthy return of Parker and Jaxon Dohm to the state of New Jersey to be reunited with their mother, Sandra Dohm," Koch told the media during a 20-minute press conference Monday in Newton, in front of TV station cameras from both New Jersey and New York.
"My boys were taken away from me by their father," Sandra Hughes Dohm said, her voice shaking with emotion. "I have not seen them since Feb. 3, 2015, and I have not spoken to them since Feb. 5. I don't know where they are, but I want them to be returned home as soon as possible. Parker and Jaxon, I want you to know that I love you, that I miss you, and I'll never stop until I find you, no matter what."
According to Koch, Kristopher Dohm, who shared joint custody of the boys, was originally supposed to return the boys to their mother in their Hopatcong home on Feb. 6, but asked for an extension of the visitation to take them to Nevada to see his dying father.
Sandra Dohm said she divorced her husband in 2012, and they had shared joint custody without incident.
"The boys had a good relationship with their father," Sandra Dohm said.
But when her ex-husband did not return the boys on Feb. 9, she notified the Hopatcong Police Department.
Police alerted
The police alerted the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, which immediately launched a joint investigation that grew to include the New Jersey State Police, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service, Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network.
The state police also issued an alert on their Facebook page, including photos of the boys and their father, along with altered photos showing all three with shaved heads because authorities believe the father may have done that to alter their appearance.
Sandra Dohm also launched a Facebook page, "Help Find Parker and Jaxon Dohm," which has received more than 9,500 likes as the story continues to capture national attention.
Public events such as a prayer vigil on Saturday at Ledgewood Baptist Church on March 7 have been organized to help rally more people to the cause.
Kristopher Dohm was charged in New Jersey on Feb. 10 with second-degree interference of custody, at which point Koch authorized a search with a "nationwide extradition radius."
On Feb. 20, a federal warrant for Kristopher Dohm was issued for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
"Our concern is for the children," Koch stressed. "The criminal prosecution is secondary."
Getting tips
Koch said his department has received tips from different agencies around the country, including a report that on Feb. 6, the vehicle Kristopher Dohm was believed to be driving — a 2009 gray Nissan Pathfinder with two stolen license plates out of Hopatcong — had been spotted driving through the Fort McHenry Tunnel under Baltimore Harbor, and that Kristopher Dohm's father in Nevada "was neither ill or dying."
He also noted that Parker Dohn suffers from asthma and his father has a diabetic condition requiring daily insulin injections.
"It is that medical condition that gives us concerns for the health and safety of those boys," Koch said, although Sandra Dohm said she did not think her ex-husband would hurt the boys.
Kristopher Dohm, 36, was described as a white male, five-foot-seven, 150 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair, possibly shaved. He also has a barbed-wire tattoo on his right arm and another tattoo on his left calf.
They are still believed to be traveling in the 2009 gray Pathfinder, with the New Jersey plates K15DXS on the front and ZKL24F on the back. The vehicle also may have New Jersey plates S17CKV.
Anyone with information is asked to call the National Center for Missing and Exploited children at 800-843-5678, the Sussex Prosecutor's Office at 973-383-1570 or the Hopatcong Borough police Department at 973-398-5000.
Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.