In a rare and highly unusual operation, the FBI deployed a Justice Department aircraft to Havana, Cuba, this week to recover a 10-year-old child from Utah at the center of an international kidnapping case. The operation marks a dramatic escalation in a long-standing custody battle involving gender identity and the Trump administration’s strict stance on gender-affirming care for minors.
The child’s biological parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, 42, and her partner, Blue Inessa-Ethington, 32, were arrested and charged with international parental kidnapping and aiding and abetting. According to federal court filings, the pair allegedly fled the United States with the child in late March, misleading the child’s mother by claiming they were headed on a camping trip to Canada. Instead, investigators tracked a journey that spanned from Washington State to Mexico and finally to Cuba.
Federal agents noted that the flight to Cuba was particularly unusual for a domestic custody dispute. Jay Groob, a specialist in child recovery cases, remarked that the use of a Boeing 757 to retrieve a child is “highly unusual.” The swift federal intervention appears to have been motivated by allegations that the Inessa-Ethingtons intended to seek gender-transition surgery for the child abroad. FBI Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield stated in an affidavit that family members believed the child, who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a girl, was being subject to “manipulation” by Rose Inessa-Ethington.
However, past records suggest a more complex family dynamic. In a 2021 fundraiser titled “Help a Trans Mother Keep Custody of Her Child,” Blue Inessa-Ethington wrote that Rose was a dedicated parent who put “care and thought” into raising her “gender open child.” She argued at the time that “as a trans woman, Rose is at a disadvantage against her cishet ex-wife.”
The child’s mother, identified in documents as “LB,” had expressed deep fears that she might never see her child again. After the FBI coordinated with Cuban authorities—who have participated in the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction since 2018—the child was located and returned. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak confirmed in a statement that the 10-year-old was safely “returned to the child’s biological mother.” The Inessa-Ethingtons now face federal charges in Utah, where they will remain in custody pending further legal proceedings.
