British mum reunited with two ‘missing’ daughters in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: A British mother’s ‘month-long nightmare’ is finally over. She was reunited with her two ‘missing’ daughters, aged two and four, last night.

Elizabeth Glanville, 34, was able to hug her two kids again at the Social Support Centre in Abu Dhabi after reporting them ‘missing’ on May 11.

“It’s fantastic, amazing, I can’t describe it,” Glanville told Gulf News fresh from her reunion with her two daughters.

“When the police called me I was shaking and it took me about half an hour to stop shaking. It’s unbelievable; I don’t have the words for it.”

Glanville sought help from Abu Dhabi authorities on May 11 to locate her daughters after her estranged husband, Wolfgang Trezise, reportedly failed to hand them over on May 10. The kids were last spotted with another woman at Spinneys in Sas Al Nakhl Village in Abu Dhabi on May 22.

“The past 32 days were terrible. It’s been a nightmare,” Glanville said.

“I’ve spent the last 32 days here [Social Support Centre] and the police station, every day, even at the weekends, I never stopped searching for my children.”

The couple is in the process of getting a divorce. Both are fighting for custody of their daughters. Glanville had obtained a court order dated May 15 ordering Trezise to hand over the kids or he would be arrested should he resist.

Trezise on June 4 countered this with another court order, which questioned the basis of the May 15 order that granted his wife custody of the children. He was detained by police on that day as he was under investigation for other cases filed by his wife. He was released days later.

A decision on the custody case filed by Trezise is expected to be handed out today.

Dr Khalfan Al Kaabi, Trezise’s lawyer, told Gulf News his client had tried three times to hand over the children to their mother at the centre but failed.

“He waited there for four hours on Thursday, and on Sunday but it didn’t happen,” Dr Al Ka’abi said. “He wants to comply with the law and that has been his intention from the beginning,” he added.

After the reunion, Glanville spoke of her plans now that she has her two daughters back.

“I’m terrified about what the children could have gone through. I believe a lot of repair work has to be done to both my children and myself to fix the damage caused by this ordeal,” Glanville said.

“All I want is to put our lives back to normal as quickly as I can, to get my children back to school.”

Glanville said she’ll also hold a party for her two-year-old daughter whose birthday she missed because they were not with her.

“She’s going to have a birthday party, she turned two on the May 9 and I organised a party for her and that was the day I realised I wasn’t getting her back. So I promised her a birthday party and a birthday party she will have.”

‘Play it down’

Glanville thanked authorities, especially the Social Support Centre, for working on the case and facilitating her reunion with her kids. “Authorities had done a good job,” she said.

“Tonight is a treat night. We’ll spend time together and try to have a special meal that they want. I’ll try not to make a big drama out of it and play it down. I don’t want them to hear anything negative about the whole thing,” Glanville said.

Sami Zaatari is a trainee at Gulf News