ARTUR LOOKYANOV: A FIRST PERSON ACOUNT OF ARTEM’S ABANDONMENT

This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog. Artur Lookyanov, the Moscow tour guide, hired by Nancy Hansen to pick up Artem Saveliev/Artem Justin Hansen at Domedovo Airport last week posted a message here yesterday. This morning I found his own long and very detailed account of the event on his webpage Moscow Driver. This is the fullest account of Artem’s abandonment so far, and very important reading. It also clears up earlier stories that indicated that Artem was found wandering around the airport by himself. I’ve been in both Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo Airport Hell myself, and it’s nothing adults, much less children, should be subjected to. Below are excerpts from: Story of Artem Justin Hansen: How I Became Involved in an International Adoption Scandal (Part 1) (Follow link to Part 2 and other details) I suggest you go over to Artur’s page and read the entire account.From Part 1: Email exchange with Nancy Hansen. Booking transportation from airport Moscow city. Note that in all of our correspondence she never once told me that she would not be the one to meet me at the airport. I Continue Reading →

HANSEN FAMILY VALUES: SELLING OFF ARTEM TOY BY TOY?

This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog. I need to spend today working on Illinois legislative matters, but wanted to get this out first. A curious little piece on the Hansen family appeared Saturday on WSMV-TV, Nashville: Hansen women regularly held yard sales When I saw the Google News headline my first thought was “stretching for a story.” Then I read it. Though the reporter made no connection between last week’s yard sale that featured “kids’ clothes, toys, car seats and stuff” and Artem’s quick departure for Moscow, I can’t help but see one. Can you? On Saturday, neighbors who live beside the women in Bedford County said the family kept to themselves and hardly anyone knew them, but the women did hold weekly yard sales. Chelby Clark said she even went to a yard sale at the Hansen’s home last week. “The kids may have been running around,” she said. On Saturday, several long tables were still sitting in the front yard of the Hansen’s homes off Highway 41 in El Bethel. Clark said their sale last week centered around kids’ items. She recalled seeing Continue Reading →

SAVELIEV/HANSEN CASE TORRY HANSEN A NO-SHOW FOR "TALK" WITH LOCAL SHERIFF

This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog. Adoptee dumpers Torry Hansen and her mother Nancy finally bought a clue and a real lawyer–and then failed to show up for a sitdown Friday with Bedford County (TN) Sheriff Randall Boyce. Here’s the intro to a long article in Saturday’s Shelbyville Times-Gazette about his area’s international pariahs. The mother and grandmother of a young adopted Russian boy sent by himself back to Moscow failed to make an appointment they had originally scheduled Friday to talk to Bedford County Sheriff Randall Boyce about the case. Boyce told media representatives Friday that Torry Hansen would not be showing up at his department, but “may be here sometime next week.” “She called and said her attorney didn’t think it was in her best interest at this point … mainly because of the media being here,” Boyce said. Boyce told the press: “This is an international deal … and we’re going to handle it a little bit at a time so we don’t make a mistake,” he said, adding that his department had never dealt with this kind of situation before. Here Continue Reading →

RUB-A-DUB-DUB: WACAP SCRUBBED FROM NCFA MEMBERSHIP PAGE

This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog. Well, this is interesting! In yesterday’s entry on the World Association for Children and Parents involvement in the Artem Saveliev case, posted directly below this, I wrote that WACAP is a member of the adoption trade association the National Council for Adoption. NCFA’s membership list, I noted, was not online when I checked right before posting. Actually, I was pretty sure I’d seen the roster a couple days earlier when NCFA’s new webpage was launched. It turns out I was right. The membership roster was online. THEN. And it is online. NOW. But not yesterday afternoon, when it appears that a NCFAnoid was busy scrubbing the site clean of WACAP membership. Super sleuth and longtime NCFA watcher JoAnne Swanson took screen shots of the NCFA Washington State roster before and after the cleansing. (Click on the images below to make them larger). And if you don’t believe me, go to today’s NCFA membership site. BEFORE AFTER This doesn’t mean that WACAP (so far) is gone from NCFA, but that NCFA has sent if off the island to distance itself Continue Reading →

SAVELIEV/HANSEN AGENCY IDENTIFIED: WORLD ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS

The adoption agency that placed Artem Saveliev/Artem Justin Hansen with his Forever Mother Torry Ann Hansen has been identified: WACAP–World Association for Children and Parents working out of Renton, Washington. And… Novisti reports that the Russian government has suspended the agency’s operations “We have suspended the permission of the nonprofit corporation World Association for Children and Parents to operate in Russia,” Alina Levitskaya told journalists. The agency assisted in a U.S. couple’s adoption of a Russian boy, Artyom Savelyev, who arrived in Russia by plane on Thursday with a note in which his adoptive parents said they were sending him back due severe psychological problems… A spokeswoman for World Association for Children and Parents in Russia said the adoption agency had no report of the incident. She said the agency would provide all the necessary information on the child’s adoption at the request of the Russian authorities. According to WAPAC’s International Adoption page WACAP is proud to be one of the largest and most experienced international nonprofit adoption agencies in the United States. In 1976, WACAP placed its first child for international adoption from Korea. In the 1980s, we expanded our adoption programs to include Thailand and India. WACAP was Continue Reading →

ARTEM SAVELIEV/ARTEM JUSTIN HANSEN: A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

This is cross-posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog.These are “before” and “after” pictures of Artem Saveliev/Artem Justin Hansen. The first picture isof Artem and Forever Mother Torry Ann Hansen taken mid-end September 2009 at his orphanage in Primorye. The second picture is of Artem at Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, April 8, 2010 Here is a picture of the note Forever Mother Torry Ann Hansen sent with her throw-away.I am writing in depth today, but I wanted to get these pictures up. They’re important.

LEAVIN’ ON A JET PLANE: RUSSIAN ADOPTEE DUMPED ON PLANE, SENT BACK TO RUSSIA

This is cross posted from my Nikto Ne Zabyt (Memoriam for Russian Adoptees Murdered and Abused by their Forever Families) blog.Большое спасибо моим друзьям в Москве Свет и Кайл Китон (Windows to Russia) за эту статью. (Much thanks to my friends in Moscow Svet and Kyle Keeton (Windows to Russia) for this story. Breaking news out of Russia! Russian media reports that a 7-year old boy, adopted six months ago by an American couple, is now back in Russia after being “refused” by his Forever Family. Artem (Artyom) Saveliev, adopted name Artem (Artyom) Justin Hansen, arrived in Moscow last Saturday on a flight from Washington accompanied only by a note from his Forever Mother, Torry Hansen, saying she’d been “mislead” by Russian authorities, the adoption was a “mistake” and she was abandoning–er–I mean, returning him. She asked that the adoption be “disannulled.” Artem’s situation was discovered at immigration control when he told authorities he had flown in by himself. The note was found in his pocket. You can read it here. RT Russian Television reports: That’s the letter the boy had with him, where his adopted mother says that she is disappointed, that she is sorry, that she sees that Continue Reading →

FOREVER FAMILY, FOREVER DEAD UPDATE: Merrymans Sentenced in Death of Dennis

Yesterday Samual and Donna Merryman were sentenced to 22 years each in the death of their Forever Russian Adoptee Dennis. Dennis, born Dennis Yuritsky was adopted in 2000 from an orphanage in Perm. The adoption agency is not known. Dennis, 8, died on January 22, 2005 of cardiac arrest brought on by starvation. The Merrymans claimed that Dennis’s condition was caused by cystic fibrosis. The couple are self-described born again Christians. They were home schoolers and also taught Sunday School. Since it will go away soon, I’m including today’s Baltimore Sun article on the sentencing hearing at the bottom of this entry. Notable excerpts from the article (if you can stomach it): (1) “All you need to do is look at the autopsy photos of Dennis,” Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt said. “It has a striking resemblance to the bodies from the German concentration camps.” (2) Two older siblings described how Dennis spent nights in an unheated room, strapped to a crib without a mattress to cushion him. His hands were tied behind his back with an elastic band, and bells were attached to his body so his parents could hear him when he moved, the siblings testified.They Continue Reading →

AND THE BEAT GOES ON: FOREVER FAMILY FOREVER DEAD UPDATE

A little over 2 1/2 years ago I wrote Forever Family, Forever Dead, about the 12 Russian adoptees murdered by their forever families in the US. Since then the entry has received thousands of hits including those from the US Senate, House, federal courts, and the media.Tragically, we have a 13th death to add to the list: Nicoli Emelyantsev,14 months old. Kolya died on March 7 of a fractured skull caused by blunt force trauma. Kolya had Down Syndrome. Kolya had been voluntarily relinquished by his parents in hope of a better life in the US. His mother visited him weekly until his departure to the US and had wanted to stay in contact with his new family. Kolya’s adoptive mother, Kimberly Emelyantsev has been charged with 1st degree felony murder and is being held on $500,000 cash bond. His adoptive father, Fyodor Emelyantsev, a Russian citizen, is under investigation for child abuse and neglect after doctors determined another son, Luka, 4, adopted from Russia in December 2007, was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. Luka also has Down Syndrome. Emelyantsev also has a 10-year old daughter with Down Syndrome and is trained in handling disabled persons. He works as an Continue Reading →

ROGUES GALLERY: A HANDY GUIDE TO ADOPTION CORRUPTION AMERICAN STYLE

RUN, DON’T WALK RIGHT NOW! Jamie Marsh has just blown the door off the whole JCICS/NCFA/FOA outhouse with his new blog Focus on Adoption: A Rogues Gallery. If you’re looking for a handy guide to adoption corruption that even boggles my mind, this is it. The war is on! There are a few new names here for me, so I know many of you won’t be familiar with all the players either. But don’t let that hold you back. There is much to read, re-read and re-re-read , digest, and read some more (including plenty of links and documentation): mendacity, incestuous agency and personnel relationships, RICO, corruption, lies. It’s better than Days of Our Lives. If ever there is reason to gut Adoption American Style, this is it. After reading Rogues Gallery you’ll never have to wonder again why they want records sealed. Mr. DiFilipo, Mr Atwood and the gang at Focus on Adoption are gonna wake up Friday morning with Headache Number 2008. And no amount of Excedrin will blot it out. I wonder how they’ll to spin it.