A FLORIDA couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Havana will be handed over to the United States, Cuban officials say after taking them into custody at a marina.
US diplomats in Havana said in a statement on Wednesday that the two children had left Cuba and "are safely on their way home."
The statement did not mention whether the parents had left for the US.
"We would like to express our appreciation to the Cuban authorities for their extensive co-operation to resolve this dangerous situation quickly," said the statement released by the US Interests Section in Havana.
Earlier Tuesday, Foreign Ministry official Johana Tablada told The Associated Press that Cuba had informed US authorities of the country's decision to turn over Joshua Michael Hakken, his wife Sharyn, and their two young boys.
US authorities say Joshua Michael Hakken kidnapped his sons, 4-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase, from his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa. The boys' maternal grandparents had been granted permanent custody of the boys last week.
Tablada did not say when the handover would occur but reporters saw Sharyn Hakken leaving the dock of the Hemingway Marina in the back seat of a Cuban government vehicle and workers later said that all four Hakkens had been taken away.
An AP reporter spotted the family earlier Tuesday beside their boat at the marina. A man who resembled photographs of Joshua Michael Hakken yelled out "Stop! Stay back!" as the reporter approached, but there was no outward sign of tension or distress between the family members.
Tablada said Cuba tipped the US State Department off to the Hakkens' presence on Sunday and that from that moment "diplomatic contact has been exchanged and a professional and constant communication has been maintained."
The US and Cuba share no extradition agreement and the island nation is also not a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty for governmental cooperation on such cases.
Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana and later tried to take the children from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities said.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest on two counts of kidnapping and other charges.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Hakken entered his mother-in-law's Florida house last Wednesday, tied her up and fled with his sons.
Federal, state and local authorities searched by air and sea for a boat Hakken had recently bought. The truck Hakken, his wife and the boys had been travelling in was found Thursday, abandoned in Madeira Beach, Florida.
"He'll have to face in Hillsborough county the charges he has with the sheriff's office," spokeswoman Cristal Bermudez Nunez Nunez said. She said she did not know how the family would be returned or what will happen when they arrive on US soil.
Terri Durdaller, a spokeswoman at the Florida Department of Children and Families, said it was not clear where the children will ultimately be placed.
"Louisiana is the ultimate decision maker on where these children will reside. It's likely they will be placed back in Florida with the grandmother," she said.
At the Havana marina on Tuesday, the family showed no sign they knew a decision about their fate had been made. The four strolled by an outdoor restaurant as security officials kept reporters at a distance. The youngest child was seated in a stroller and the elder boy sat down on a curb.
US diplomats in Havana said in a statement on Wednesday that the two children had left Cuba and "are safely on their way home."
The statement did not mention whether the parents had left for the US.
"We would like to express our appreciation to the Cuban authorities for their extensive co-operation to resolve this dangerous situation quickly," said the statement released by the US Interests Section in Havana.
Earlier Tuesday, Foreign Ministry official Johana Tablada told The Associated Press that Cuba had informed US authorities of the country's decision to turn over Joshua Michael Hakken, his wife Sharyn, and their two young boys.
US authorities say Joshua Michael Hakken kidnapped his sons, 4-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase, from his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa. The boys' maternal grandparents had been granted permanent custody of the boys last week.
Tablada did not say when the handover would occur but reporters saw Sharyn Hakken leaving the dock of the Hemingway Marina in the back seat of a Cuban government vehicle and workers later said that all four Hakkens had been taken away.
An AP reporter spotted the family earlier Tuesday beside their boat at the marina. A man who resembled photographs of Joshua Michael Hakken yelled out "Stop! Stay back!" as the reporter approached, but there was no outward sign of tension or distress between the family members.
Tablada said Cuba tipped the US State Department off to the Hakkens' presence on Sunday and that from that moment "diplomatic contact has been exchanged and a professional and constant communication has been maintained."
The US and Cuba share no extradition agreement and the island nation is also not a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty for governmental cooperation on such cases.
Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana and later tried to take the children from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities said.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest on two counts of kidnapping and other charges.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Hakken entered his mother-in-law's Florida house last Wednesday, tied her up and fled with his sons.
Federal, state and local authorities searched by air and sea for a boat Hakken had recently bought. The truck Hakken, his wife and the boys had been travelling in was found Thursday, abandoned in Madeira Beach, Florida.
"He'll have to face in Hillsborough county the charges he has with the sheriff's office," spokeswoman Cristal Bermudez Nunez Nunez said. She said she did not know how the family would be returned or what will happen when they arrive on US soil.
Terri Durdaller, a spokeswoman at the Florida Department of Children and Families, said it was not clear where the children will ultimately be placed.
"Louisiana is the ultimate decision maker on where these children will reside. It's likely they will be placed back in Florida with the grandmother," she said.
At the Havana marina on Tuesday, the family showed no sign they knew a decision about their fate had been made. The four strolled by an outdoor restaurant as security officials kept reporters at a distance. The youngest child was seated in a stroller and the elder boy sat down on a curb.
