Cherokee Girl Must Return To Adoptive Parents

A Cherokee girl who was forcibly returned to her Native American father must be immediately placed back with her adoptive parents, a US court has ruled.

Matt and Melanie Capobianco have been trying to adopt three-year-old Veronica since her birth in 2009. They raised her as their own daughter for two years.

But she has been living with her biological father, Dusten Brown, in Oklahoma since 2011, when South Carolina's Supreme Court ruled in favour of a federal law that governs the placement of American Indian children.

The Capobiancos, from Charleston, appealed to the US Supreme Court, which ruled that the state should determine the girl's placement.

South Carolina's highest court subsequently ordered a judge to go ahead and finalise the adoption. The case file is sealed, but was obtained by WCBD-TV.

Matt and Melanie Capobianco have battled for two years. Pic: WCBD-TV

The judge also approved a transition plan that laid out a gradual process for reintroducing the girl to the Capobiancos. But Mr Brown failed to show up with Veronica for the first of those scheduled gatherings on August 4.

State and federal prosecutors have been charged with immediately locating and transferring her.

"Baby girl Veronica is being unlawfully withheld from her lawful parents," Judge Daniel Martin wrote.

The Capobiancos say they can sympathise with the Brown family as they prepare to say goodbye to the girl - something the couple did nearly two years ago.

"We understand their heartbreak and their pain better than anybody," Mrs Capobianco said. "I hate that all of this has happened. It makes me sad because I do know how they feel."

Veronica has been living with Mr Brown's wife and parents in Oklahoma while he serves a month-long stint with the National Guard.

Cherokee Nation Assistant Attorney General Chrissi Nimmo called it "physically and legally impossible for Dusten to comply with the current order".

Mr Brown is also pursuing custody of his daughter through the Oklahoma court system.

Several American Indian groups are also pursuing a federal civil rights case, saying a hearing should be held to determine if it is in Veronica's best interest to be transferred to South Carolina.

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