In May of 2005, after being separated from her husband for nearly ten months, Teresa Elizondo-Rojas flew to Mexico with Josue, the couple's four year old son, for a visit. The purpose of the trip was not only so that Josue could visit with his father; but, because Obed Rojas had called Teresa to tell her that he wanted to try to make their marriage work.
When she arrived in Mexico City with Josue, Obed told her that he had changed his mind and wanted Teresa to return to the United States to begin divorce proceedings. Emotionally distraught, she left her son with his father for an agreed upon visit which was supposed to last three months, returning Josue to the United States in time for his fifth birthday and the start of kindergarten.
Teresa returned to the United States and began divorce proceedings. A judge awarded full custody of Josue Rojas to her in the preliminary hearings in the case, before their divorce was finalized Obed Rojas was angered by this, being from a wealthy Mexican family, he felt that he was better equipped to care for their son. When it came time for Rojas to return Josue to the United States and the care of Teresa, he fled from Mexico City with Josue.
In the fall of 2005, Teresa contacted California Child Protective Services to enact the custody order. She returned to court where a judge found Obed had violated the custody agreement and ordered him to return Josue to the United States.
Six months later, CCPS located Obed prepared to take Josue home. Rojas filed an injunction in Mexico to stop CCPS from taking Josue back to the United States. In 2006, a Mexican Judge found that because Teresa Elizondo-Rojas had provided Obed Rojas with a letter giving Rojas permission to travel outside of the United States with Josue that the U.S. custody order was not valid and Obed could keep Josue in Mexico for as long as he liked.
This outraged the family and friends of Teresa Elizondo-Rojas. They began a letter writing campaign on her behalf. They wrote to California Child Protective Services, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Senator Barbara Boxer and other city and state legislators.
They received no response or action.
Teresa went to legal aid for help and was told that they couldn't do anything. A CCPS agent told Elizondo-Rojas that she was "not working hard enough to resolve the situation" and ceased working with her on her case.
Obed Rojas is a very charming man. Charming enough that he was able to convinced CCPS that he would return Josue to his mother multiple times. When it came time to put Josue on a plane home to Oakland, Obed would "change his mind," and disappear again.
"They wouldn't listen to me when I told them that this is what Obed does," says Elizondo-Rojas, who looks weary and sad at the very mention of her son. "They didn't believe me until he had [broken the promise to return Josue] several times. They told me I was being melodramatic."
Despite all the pleas for help that Teresa Elizondo-Rojas and her friends and family have made, nothing has been done to return Josue, now nine years old, to his mother.
Elizondo-Rojas, who was born and raised in Oakland, works full time for a automotive auction facility in Hayward, California. She is an artist who sells her paintings on the side to provide a little extra income for herself in the hopes that she will be able to fly to Mexico soon and be reunited with her son.
"We've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on plane tickets," she says, "Then when it would come time for us to go get Josue, Obed would change his mind, move and we'd have to find him all over again."
In the four years that she has been separated from her son, Teresa Elizondo-Rojas has been allowed to speak to Josue only a handful of times. Recently, Rojas allowed Josue to call Teresa. After only five minutes on the phone with her son, Obed Rojas prompted Josue to ask his mother to please send him an original copy of his birth certificate.
The original birth certificate is the only document preventing Obed from disappearing with Josue forever. With an original birth certificate, he could obtain a Mexican passport for Josue. When Teresa tearfully refused to send the birth certificate, Rojas ended the call.
I know this because I was in the room when this conversation occurred. Teresa is one of my closest friends. Josue is my "honorary nephew." I have witnessed first hand the cruelty of Obed Rojas preventing Teresa and Josue from being reunited.
Whenever Teresa speaks with him, Josue asks, "Mamma, why can't I come home?"
She has no good answer to give him.
It is an outrage that it has been four years since Obed Rojas kidnapped Josue and in that time not one government agency or politician has stepped up to help. It is unconscionable that representatives of the government of the United States have plainly stated to this young mother that she is not a priority to them.
Teresa and her son are both United States citizens. Josue is being held hostage by his father in a foreign country. Why does no one help?
When I asked her what she hoped would come out of this article, she simply said, "That someone will help me get Josue home."
Please help her. Josue wants to come home.
To contact Teresa Elizondo-Rojas to assist her in the fight to regain custody of her son, Josue, please contact Kate Kotler via email at kate[at]katekotler[dot]com.
Most recent known photograph of Josue Rojas courtesy of Kate Kotler.