AFP seek public help in finding fugitive mother Sarah Tate, who fled with son Thomas Bakyrey in November 2018
Four-year-old Thomas Bakyrey disappeared with his mother last November — now his father and the AFP have made an urgent plea to the public to help find the boy.
Call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, quoting AFP reference 6365180, if you have information
A national search has been launched to arrest a fugitive mother after she fled with her young son from her Adelaide home, amid mounting concerns for his welfare.
Federal police will on Monday issue an urgent public plea to help locate four year-old Thomas Alexander Bakyrey, who mysteriously disappeared with Sarah Elizabeth Tate, 38, more than seven months ago.
The boy’s father, Sergiy Fedirovich Bakyrey, 36, told The Advertiser of his ongoing distress after the pair went missing from their southern suburbs home while he was interstate working in November last year.
“I am very worried about Thomas’ welfare as his disappearance was without any warning and I do not know where he is,” he said.
“I know Thomas was very much looking forward to seeing me … and that he will be distressed about where I am and why he has been taken away from his home.”
Despite extensive Australian Federal Police investigations, the pair’s whereabouts are unknown amid fears for the boy’s welfare.
A warrant has been issued for Ms Tate’s arrest while a Judge has authorised the AFP, state police forces or a court Marshal to “recover the child” and return him to his father, a fly-in-fly-out construction worker.
Authorities said they were last seen in the state’s south east near the South Australian/Victorian border a few months ago but investigators do not believe they have fled overseas.
In a rare move, Adelaide-based Federal Circuit Court Judge Penelope Kari has granted The Advertiser permission to publish the trio’s identities, details of their backgrounds and photographs after strict secrecy orders were lifted.
The Judge’s orders further allow authorities to issue public statements about their concerns and it has been issued because AFP inquiries, which have also involved SA Police, are exhausted.
Mr Bakyrey was granted interim custody of his son in February.
Court documents show a “recovery order” was granted on February 13.
The papers state it has not been executed while the “current whereabouts of the child are unknown”.
Under Commonwealth law, parties involved in any family disputes are usually afforded lifetime anonymity.
The AFP said the father last saw his son at their Kurralta Park home in October last year before he flew out to work in Western Australia.
Since this time, they said he has been “trying to find his son and return him to his care”.
Police believe Ms Tate, a former Mercedes College student who was not in paid employment, no longer lives in SA and may have fled to Victoria with her son, who turns five in December.
Her white, 2017 Toyota Rav 4 with South Australian registration S785BXR was last seen at Bordertown in late February.
Having attended an undisclosed Early Learning Centre when he disappeared, Thomas was due to start at an Adelaide Hills school this year but failed to attend, his father said.
Friends say Ms Tate’s last posts on social media accounts were in January. She had also lost touch with her immediate family.
State Government records show the couple own several properties throughout Adelaide and the Hills.
They had recently lived at Port Hedland, 600km south west of Broome on the WA far north coast.
In a statement issued through his Adelaide-based lawyers with the court’s permission, Ukrainian-born Mr Bakyrey said when he returned home from a work trip on November 28, 2018, he discovered the pair had left.
He said they usually spoke up to three times a week and he last had a Skype conversation with him on November 19 last year.
Just two days earlier, Ms Tate had sent a text message about Thomas’ pending birthday but she failed to “mention that she was leaving with him”, he added.
“Please contact the police if you have any information at all about where (they) may be,” he said.
In a joint statement issued with the court, the AFP’s acting National Response Operations manager, Paul Hopkins, “strongly” urged Thomas’ return.
He said by releasing the family’s information, it was hoped someone in the community will recognise either Thomas or Sarah and contact authorities.
“The pain of a missing child is incomparable,” he said. “We can only imagine what Sergiy and the rest of Thomas’ family is currently going through.
“If you see Thomas or Sarah, or have any information on their whereabouts, we urge you to contact (police) and help reunite Thomas with his family.
“Hiding a child from their families can have adverse effects and the AFP strongly urges the return of Thomas to his home in Adelaide.”
Ms Tate is described of small build, 163cms tall, with long brown hair which is sometimes dyed in shades of red and glasses.
Thomas is a slim child, about 1m tall with blue eyes and, as of last October, light brown hair past his shoulders.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Thomas or his mother Sarah is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, quoting AFP reference 6365180.