Continental Airlines Sued for Negligence by Father of Kidnapped Three-Year-= Old Child Illegally Taken by Plane to Mexico by Ex-Wife =0A=0A =0A=0AMonday= January 29, 9:31 AM EST =0A=0A=0ABOSTON, Jan 29, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMT= EX/ -- The father of a still-missing three-year-old girl who was kidnapped = by her mother and illegally taken by plane to Mexico in March 2006 filed a = lawsuit in Boston federal court today against Continental Airlines for negl= igence, breach of contract and interference with custodial relations. The c= hild's mother, who remains at large in Mexico, has been charged in the U.S.= with a felony kidnapping.=0AThe lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court i= n Massachusetts by the law firm Kreindler & Kreindler LLP on behalf of plai= ntiff Didier Combe, an American citizen residing in Massachusetts. The suit= contends that Continental Airlines, in violation of its own rules, failed = to protect the child, Chloe Combe-Rivas, from the criminal actions of her m= other, Aline Rivas-Vera, a citizen of Mexico.=0A=0AMexican Law, Continental= Regulations Intended to Prevent Child Abduction=0AMexican law requires tha= t a single-parent passenger traveling alone with a minor-age child possess = and present a notarized letter from the absent parent authorizing travel fo= r that child out of the United States into Mexico. The lawsuit contends tha= t, in allowing Ms. Rivas-Vera to travel to Mexico with the child without he= r presenting that authorization, Continental breached its own rules and reg= ulations as stated in the terms of its contract of carriage that the airlin= e makes with its passengers and which are consistent with that Mexican law.= =0A"The laws and regulations applicable in this case are specifically in pl= ace to prevent international parental abduction," said Anthony Tarricone, a= law partner at Kreindler & Kreindler's Boston office representing Mr. Comb= e. "Continental Airlines was the last line of defense to thwart this abduct= ion and protect this child. The airline's own rules dictate that if a paren= t attempts to bring a minor child across the Mexican border, that parent mu= st first provide written authorization from the child's other parent, or pr= oof of sole custody. Continental failed its own contractual test, and there= fore its legal and moral responsibilities. The airline must be held account= able for the immeasurable hardship suffered by Chloe's father and the irrep= arable damage Chloe is now suffering as the authorities continue their sear= ch for her throughout Mexico."=0AFelony Charges Filed; International Parent= al Kidnapping Common=0AMs. Rivas-Vera kidnapped Chloe, a U.S. citizen, on M= arch 15, 2006, taking her then-two-year-old daughter on Continental Flight = 2547 from Kansas City, MO, to Houston, TX, and continuing on Flight 1524 fr= om Houston to Mexico City without Mr. Combe's consent or permission. At the= time of the kidnapping, the married couple was in the process of divorce p= roceedings. Mr. Combe, now lawfully divorced from Ms. Rivas-Vera, was subse= quently granted sole custody of their daughter by court orders in April and= July 2006.=0AIn May 2006 the State of Missouri filed Class D felony charge= s of parental kidnapping against Ms. Rivas-Vera. Federal authorities issued= an international kidnapping warrant in June 2006 for the arrest of Ms. Riv= as-Vera. Mr. Combe recently relocated to his sister's Massachusetts home fr= om his home in Kansas City, MO, to work full time on the search for his dau= ghter. He is collaborating with the U.S. Department of State to locate Chlo= e and bring her back to the U.S. Mr. Combe has visited Mexico several times= to find his daughter.=0A"By not following its own stated company guideline= s or the relevant international laws in place to protect children, Continen= tal Airlines was complicit and participated in the abduction of my daughter= ," said Mr. Combe. "The airline had every opportunity to prevent this horri= fic crime and did not. Continental checkpoints at two U.S. airports for two= different flights missed all the signs the airline should have recognized,= including a lack of documentation from me authorizing Chloe's travel and n= ot recognizing as a red flag the different last names of my ex-wife and Chl= oe. This airline failed to protect my little girl."=0AMr. Tarricone contend= s that the border between the U.S. and Mexico is a known corridor for paren= ts abducting children from their custodial parents, and that Continental kn= ew or should have known of the prevalence of international parental kidnapp= ing in this region.=0AMr. Tarricone noted that the Terms and Conditions of = travel found on Continental's web site (http://www.covacations.com/terms.as= px) make clear the company's policy regulating the transport of minors who = are traveling to Mexico. It states:=0A * Minors under 18 years of age tr= aveling to Mexico, Brazil and Chile:=0A Notarized letter of consent th= at has a valid period of 30 days and is=0A good for a single entry.=0A= * If traveling unaccompanied: A notarized letter of permission (origina= ls=0A only) signed by both parents and an individual passport.=0A *= If traveling with only one parent: A notarized letter of permission=0A = (originals only) signed by the other parent.=0A * In case of deceased = or divorced parents: Legal proof must be submitted=0A to accept only o= ne parent's signature on the notarized letter of=0A permission in orde= r to establish that signing parent has legal custody=0A of the minor.= =0A=0A=0AAccording to the U.S. State Department (Trial Magazine, December 2= 006), since the late 1970s, "at least 16,000 children were either abducted = from the United States or prevented from returning to this country by one o= f their parents."=0A"The problem of parental kidnapping is real and substan= tial, and widely known throughout the airline industry," said Mr. Tarricone= . "Tragically, in this case, Continental wasn't watching its own doors."=0A= Anyone with knowledge of Chloe's and/or Ms. Rivas-Vera's whereabouts is enc= ouraged to contact the Kansas City Division of the Federal Bureau of Invest= igation (FBI) at 816-512-8200, or write to chloekidnap@xxxxxxxxxx=0AAbout K= reindler & Kreindler LLP=0AFounded in 1950, Kreindler & Kreindler LLP (www.= kreindler.com), with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, is nation= ally recognized as the first and most prominent aviation law firm in the na= tion. The firm has been lead plaintiff legal counsel in hundreds of aviatio= n cases, including litigation stemming from the September 11 terrorist atta= cks; the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland; the downing= of Korean Airlines Flight 007; and many cases of private, commercial and m= ilitary crashes. Its ranks include airplane and helicopter pilots, engineer= s and other technical experts. For more information contact 617-424-9100 or= 212-687-8181.=0ASOURCE Kreindler & Kreindler LLP=0ACONTACT: Jay S= . Winuk, +1-845-277-1160, +1-914-523-3227 cell, jay@xxxxxxxxxxx; or Jeff Mc= Cord,=0A +1-540-364-4769, jmccord@xxxxxxxxxxxxx=0AURL: = http://www.kreindler.com=0A http://www.covacatio= ns.com/terms.aspx=0A http://www.prnewswire.com=0Awww.prnew= swire.com=0A=0ACopyright (C) 2007 PR Newswire. All rights reserved