Real Name: Rejean Hardy
Aliases: None known
Wanted For: Abduction
Missing Since: January 29, 1995
Case[]
Details: Thirty-six-year-old Rejean Hardy and Joanne Pearson had a three-year-old daughter, Emilie. After they divorced, Joanne remarried and received primary custody of her. Rejean also remarried and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. On January 29, 1995, he abducted her from Joanne's home in Grand Junction, Colorado during a scheduled custody visit. They then flew back to Phoenix where he stole his second wife's car. They have not been seen since. Rejean has since been charged with felony violation of custody. He is an avid golfer, is French Canadian, and speaks with a pronounced accent.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on a Special Bulletin in the October 20, 1995 episode.
- Some sources spell his name as "ReJean".
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the series.
Results: Captured. In August 1997, a golf course manager recognized Emilie and Rejean after receiving a missing persons flier from the Missing Children Society of Canada, a Canadian missing children's organization. They had been living in Guadalajara, Mexico with Rejean's second wife, a Mexican national. On September 2, they were arrested in Guadalajara by FBI agents. However, a housekeeper and two teenage boys escaped with Emilie. Rejean later agreed to contact the housekeeper. The next day, Emilie was reunited with Joanne and her stepfather, Charlie. Two days after that, she was returned to Colorado and reunited with the rest of her family.
Rejean spent several days in a Mexican jail before being released. However, he never faced charges in Colorado.
Links:
- Alleged child abductor aided by delay - February 21, 1995
- Sloan defends search methods - February 24, 1995
- The search for Emilie - 1 year after abduction, tot's mom won't quit - January 3, 1996
- Stiffer price for parental kidnapping is proposed - October 2, 1996
- Kidnapped daughter returns after two years - September 6, 1997
- City man arrested in kidnapping - September 7, 1997
- Women find abducted child in Mexico - September 11, 1997