Did Liberty Counsel Smuggle Lisa Miller And Her Daughter Out Of The Country?

For many months we've been wondering about the whereabouts of "ex-gay" Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella, both of whom disappeared after a Vermont judge ruled that Miller must surrender custody of the child to her former partner. Miller had been represented by the anti-gay Liberty Counsel, who since January have claimed to have no knowledge of the pair's location. Yesterday it was learned that Miller may have kidnapped her daughter to El Salvador.

The girl, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, failed to appear for a court-ordered custody swap in January and are believed to have flown to El Salvador last September, said attorney Sarah Star, who represents ex-partner Janet Jenkins. Star said a Virginia police officer told her that Miller and the girl flew to El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, from Juarez, Mexico, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. "This is obviously horrifying," Star said Thursday. "Isabella's not in school. She's most likely in a country that is not as developed as the U.S., and (Jenkins is) worried about her. She's worried she's not in a safe environment. As far as we know, Lisa Miller doesn't even speak Spanish."

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has turned its attention to Central America, distributing photos and information about Isabella to news outlets throughout the region, apparently believing she and her birth mother moved there, Star said Thursday. Isabella, a pigtailed 4-foot-tall blonde, is listed on the Center's website as a victim of a family abduction who may be in the company of Miller. Center officials wouldn't comment on that development Thursday. "This thing has taken some interesting turns, but I can't talk about where we think the child may be, because she hasn't been found," said Robert Lowery, executive director of the Center's missing-children division.

Even though Liberty Counsel claims they haven't seen or heard from Miller in nine months, they still plan on representing her to the Virginia Supreme Court. Interesting, huh? Let's hope that when Isabella is finally found, charges of aiding and abetting kidnapping are brought against the Liberty Counsel and their two henchmen, Matt Barber and Mat Staver.