An American woman wanted in an US parental kidnapping case has been arrested in Bangkok after allegedly hiding with her eight-year-old son for nearly two years.

The 45-year-old, identified only as Linda, was detained at accommodation in Bangkok's Prawet district on August 19. Thai immigration officers found the boy with her and said he was safe.

Arrest followed Oregon custody case

The case began in early 2025 after Linda separated from her former husband, Hassan Mamoud. A US court in Oregon awarded Mamoud custody of their son, citing concerns over Linda's reported alcohol dependence and mental health issues.

Linda later allegedly took the child away from his father. Mamoud reported his son missing to police, hired a private investigator and launched a website aimed at finding him.

Picture courtesy of Thaitabloid

He spent more than a year searching, as the case attracted widespread attention in the United States.

FBI officials later received information indicating that Linda was in Thailand. The agency worked with Thai immigration authorities, who revoked her permission to remain in the country before locating her in Prawet.

Child reunited with his father

Immigration officers went to the accommodation and arrested Linda. Officials contacted relevant agencies to arrange protection and welfare services for the child before he was reunited with Mamoud.

Thai authorities have not released further details about how long Linda and her son had been in Thailand, or the arrangements that led to their stay in Bangkok. Legal proceedings are still ongoing.

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22 August 2026

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I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

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Surely, if she was here for a number of years, her 90 day report would have been flagged as a person of interest to the FBI?

Surely, when she entered Thailand, the immigration system would have flagged her as well!

No? Nice to see these systems operating as they should. Money well spent. 😀

52 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

That was my first thought! Traumatizing

11 minutes ago, hughrection said:

Surely, if she was here for a number of years, her 90 day report would have been flagged as a person of interest to the FBI?

Surely, when she entered Thailand, the immigration system would have flagged her as well!

No? Nice to see these systems operating as they should. Money well spent. 😀

Why would an American mother and son arriving in Bangkok be flagged unless they had already been informed by the FBI.

If the FBI had already been notified of the abduction then the primary question would be 'why were they allowed to leave the US;

As far as 90 day reports... why would such a person (wanted for abduction) supply any correct address or communicate with immigration in any way.?

Don't see how immigration is at fault.

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

Well who knows, on the other hand he might happy and relief to get away from the mother that was an alcoholic and had mental issues. That's why the father was awarded the custody in the first place, must there be a reason for that no? I am not saying she is now. Maybe she sober up, but how is she even supporting the boy? What are their living conditions, who knows...

Difficult to know what to think in a nasty situation like this. Mixed ethnic/religious marriages can run into huge conflict in child rearing issues and not to generalize but husbands of Islamic background do tend to demand absolute obedience from a wife.

That a US court awarded the husband full custody shows he was able to convince a court he was the better parent but that can get really muddled when lawyers are involved.

The real looser is obviously the kid, used as a weapon by dueling parents. No good for him will come out of this.

12 minutes ago, terryq said:

Why would an American mother and son arriving in Bangkok be flagged unless they had already been informed by the FBI.

If the FBI had already been notified of the abduction then the primary question would be 'why were they allowed to leave the US;

As far as 90 day reports... why would such a person (wanted for abduction) supply any correct address or communicate with immigration in any way.?

Don't see how immigration is at fault.

Agree. FBI can find out if a U.S. citizen has left the country without having to walking into a local "immigration office" . All they needed to do was to access the shared federal databases that track international travel. In a matter of seconds they would have known Linda and her son were in Thailand.

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

That was my first thought! Traumatizing

I like to add to the above, the school education missed out by the young boy during the past 2 years. Most probably stuck in a room with a mother suffering from alcohol and mental issues.

3 hours ago, terryq said:

Why would an American mother and son arriving in Bangkok be flagged

Lacking details certainly but questions do arise regarding manner of departure from US and arrival in Thailand through immigration.

Assuming air travel, how did the mother and child prove to satisfaction of the airlines qualification for Thailand entry, ie., claim visa free entry and custody of child?

Going through Thai immigration was an arrival form and US passports presented to immigration and proof of funds for stay?

4 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

I wonder how the young boy felt about being separated from his father by his mother who did not have custody. Must have been very frightening for him.

4 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

Yes, but I wonder if she thought about that before she decided to kidnap him?

4 hours ago, hughrection said:

Surely, when she entered Thailand, the immigration system would have flagged her

The FBI may not have flag her as being of interest to them at the time she entered Thailand.

4 hours ago, NedR69 said:

4 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

I wonder how the young boy feels being separated from his mother by the Thai police. Must be very frightening for him.

That was my first thought! Traumatizing

Probably not quite as traumatising as being kidnapped from his father by a drunk mother with mental issues.

59 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Going through Thai immigration was an arrival form and US passports presented to immigration and proof of funds for stay

"...and proof of funds for stay",

Very rarely is that something that's is investigated on arrival unless there are suspicions about them, but why suggest not she may not have had sufficient funds?

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Assuming air travel, how did the mother and child prove to satisfaction of the airlines qualification for Thailand entry, ie., claim visa free entry and custody of child

That doesn't matter as it's obvious that the airline did not suspect her of not qualifying for entry.

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, but I wonder if she thought about that before she decided to kidnap him?

Can a mother be said to have kidnapped her own son ? I gather the decision of the Oregon court was the subject of a good deal of controversy.

Most likely she was not considered a flight risk and even then she had committed no crime as the story seems to indicate they were in the transition period for custody transfer.

Interpol Red Notices are issued for serious crimes which I am not sure if this fits the criteria.

5 hours ago, terryq said:

As far as 90 day reports... why would such a person (wanted for abduction) supply any correct address or communicate with immigration in any way.?

That was kinda my point, as in 90 day reports are a total waste of time. 😁

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

Can a mother be said to have kidnapped her own son ? I gather the decision of the Oregon court was the subject of a good deal of controversy.

Like you, I wonder what the rest of the story is.

7 hours ago, NedR69 said:

That was my first thought! Traumatizing

My reaction too- an emotional roller coaster for a very young child

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

I wonder how the young boy felt about being separated from his father by his mother who did not have custody. Must have been very frightening for him.

Relieved i expect...

I doubt there was honesty in him gaining custody.

More likely to want to be with his mother.

7 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

Can a mother be said to have kidnapped her own son ? I gather the decision of the Oregon court was the subject of a good deal of controversy.

In custody cases, yes, it is kidnapping, a crime. She did not have custody