Slovakian Native Suspected of Fleeing Country with 2 Kids Returns to U.S.

A Slovakian native suspected of taking her two children overseas and failing to return, in violation of court custody orders issued in Los Angeles, was returned to the U.S. today to face prosecution, according to police and federal authorities.

Maria Pfeifer, 32, formerly of Hollywood, is suspected of taking the children to the Czech Republic and Slovakia in June of 2012 but not returning the following month as scheduled, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

According to Los Angeles Police Department detectives, the failure to return as planned violated the rights of the children's respective fathers, Eimiller said.

"FBI assistance was requested when investigators determined that Pfeifer intended to remain overseas with the victim children," she said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Pfeifer in August of 2013 and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged her with two felony counts of child detention with right to custody, according to the FBI.

Pfeifer was further charged in September of 2013 in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Eimiller said.

"The court later granted the victims' fathers full custody of their children while Pfeifer was a fugitive," she said, adding that Pfeifer was known to have spent time in Slovakia, Germany and France, prompting investigators to concentrate their efforts in those countries.

A tip earlier this year, received on a social media site operated by one of the children's fathers, led investigators to a location in France, where Pfeifer had been residing with the children, Eimiller said.

"Agents with the FBI's Los Angeles field office collaborated with the FBI's legal attache stationed in Paris, France, and French law enforcement authorities to recover the victim children," she said, adding that Pfeifer was arrested in December in Divonne-les-Bains, France, by French law enforcement following a request from the FBI.

The children were reunited with their fathers -- one of whom reportedly lives in Beverly Hills and the other in Laurel Canyon -- shortly thereafter and returned to the U.S., Eimiller said.

Pfeifer was granted bail at a court appearance in France and had remained overseas following her arrest, but she was returned to the U.S. today, escorted by FBI agents, and turned over to LAPD detectives upon arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, Eimiller said.

"The federal complaint ... is expected to be dismissed and Pfeifer will be prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office," she said.

--City News Service