For 30 months, Hilary Foretich, 7, has been the nation's most famous missing child--because her mother wanted it that way. In a 1987 custody battle, Dr. Elizabeth Morgan, 42, claimed her ex-husband had molested their daughter, beginning at the age of 2. Morgan sent Hilary underground, and went to jail for two years rather than tell a Washington, D.C., judge where the child was hiding. But last week, with the help of private investigators, Dr. Eric Foretich, 46, traced his daughter to Christ-church, New Zealand, where Hilary, in good health, was living with her maternal grandparents. When the elder Morgans got wind of Foretich's discovery, they turned the matter over to the New Zealand courts, and both sides prepared for a renewal of the bitter custody war on an international stage.
A British television documentary on the case unwittingly helped Foretich locate Hilary. A teacher who saw the show recognized her as Ellen Morgan, a former student in Plymouth, England, and told Diana Burgess, the show's producer. Foretich, who had been interviewed for the show, later took Burgess to court where a British judge ordered her to disclose all she knew about the child. With that lead, investigators were able to trace Hilary to New Zealand last week. "I am elated," says Foretich. The New Zealand courts have ordered him to stay away from Hilary, but press reports at the weekend had Foretich heading for Christchurch. For now, Hilary won't be able to see her mother, either: the court confiscated Morgan's passport when she was sent to jail.
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