Below it I have also added another of their awareness videos that features the three Silah children.

As a parent myself I find it hard to watch these not only because I know the mothers of Alex, Zaven and Greg but because The thought of such a thing happening to my own children is beyond all imagination. These are real children, real lives and real heartbreak. Thank you for taking the time to pay to visit the boy’s website and caring enough to help.

Child abduction is a crime, even if the child is your own. The damage done to a child caught up in this situation is largely not known by the general public. Pyschologists and child care experts have been researching and documenting this, the effects of the child victims of this crime is devastating, and that’s without taking into account the emotional damage done to the left behind parent and extended family.

]]> http://findthesilahchildren.com/2009/02/22/forever-searching/feed/ 0 http://findthesilahchildren.com/2008/12/29/article-published-in-major-armenian-online-news-portal/ http://findthesilahchildren.com/2008/12/29/article-published-in-major-armenian-online-news-portal/#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:38:33 +0000 Limey http://findthesilahchildren.com/?p=186 Sylvia Bourdjian is an Armenian reporter from Germany who contacted us as she had heard of our situation and wrote the article with our permission. Azad-Hye is a Middle Eastern Armenian portal accessed by Armenians all across the world.

Alex and Zaven Silah

What could be a mother’s worse nightmare?

 

Azad-Hye Special

Some of us may have received emails about the abducted Soulahian (or Silah) children in the U.S., but I wonder how many have reacted to do something in this regard? May the best they have done is to forward the email to other friends and then forget about it.

On 02 July 2008, the lives of three children and two families changed forever.

On that day, while on a court appointed visit with their fathers, Alex and Zaven Silah along with their cousin Greg Silah were abducted. What make this parental abduction so disturbing are the criminal activities of their fathers; not only are the police looking for the men but also a number of possible killers that have left threatening messages in voicemails. They are on the run from members of the Armenian community from which they have allegedly scammed about $5 million.

The missing boys are: Alexander Silah (12), Zaven Silah (8) and Greg Silah (10). They have been missing since 02 July 2008.

Alexander and Zaven are brothers. Greg is their cousin. Los Angeles Police is currently looking for George Silah (46, Alex and Zaven’s dad) and Jean John Silah (47, Greg’s dad); both Syrian-Armenians suspected of abducting their sons. They were supposed to spend summer vacation together. Neither the fathers nor the children ever checked into the vacation resort they were supposed to be. Greg was supposed to return home to his mother on 06 July 2008; Alex and Zaven on 10 July 2008.

Greg Silah

Zanni Meguerian, mother of Alex and Zaven, and Christine Jeanbart, mother of Greg are pleading for the fathers to return their sons unharmed. “We’re begging them to drop the children off in a safe place so they may return home,” said Zanni Merguerian.

“Our children must be terrified,” stated Christine Jeanbart.

The men may have been involved in selling fake identities to people entering the country illegally. Police have discovered in their home shredded fake documents and immigration applications, other persons’ identification documents, passport photos, notes verifying suspected illegal transactions for thousands of dollars, evidence of bank and credit card fraud. 

Both mothers are asking organizations dedicated to finding abducted children and have been using the media to help them find their missing children. They were both interviewed by Dr. Phil in his televised program, by Fox News channel also on MSNBC. You can watch the above interviews by clicking the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxg8rY5G5zw&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5a3TL1VBgY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0uPzjqM3eA&feature=channel_page

The latest televised appeal of the mothers was on CBS – Without a Trace program:

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=83796@kcbs.dayport.com

And on December 19, 2008, CNN broadcasted an interview with  Kristen Anderson of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children featuring the missing Silah kids:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/crime/2008/12/19/dcl.find.the.children.cnn

Nobody knows where the children might be, but both mothers believe they may still be in the United States. They have refused to provide the fathers with the children’s passports, though they have asked for it, also because their names and photos were already presented to Los Angeles Police and added to the FBI’s “Wanted List”. When the Silah brothers’ family in Syria was contacted for their whereabouts, they gave no comments.

Upon contacting the mothers, Azad-Hye asked them the following:

Were the children in good terms with their fathers? How did the fathers treat them usually?

Zanni Meguerian: “The children were on good terms with their fathers. Christine and I both never spoke ill of the fathers. The children were not generally suspecting of their fathers. My 2 boys, Alex and Zaven on occasion doubted their father in terms of his sincerity and trustworthiness. They have in the past mentioned to me on a number of occasions that they did not  trust him much because, in their own words “he never kept his promises”.

Christian Jeanbart: “As Zanni had mentioned, the children were on good terms with their fathers. My ex always tried to keep Greg happy in every possible way. My son never discussed with me any problems or concerns that he had with his father. As a matter of fact, he would always keep quiet and would avoid any subject related to his dad. I knew that Greg to a certain degree was being controlled by his father to what to say and what not to say”.

Why do you think the Silah brothers would consider kidnapping their children, knowing that they themselves are in danger?

Zanni Meguerian: “My personal opinion is that the Silah brothers took the children with them when they escaped and became fugitives given, they believe, the lives of the children may be directly threatened. The Silah brothers have conned so many people and have ruined so many lives that they’re afraid their scammed victims might retaliate and get to them through hurting the children. This, of course, does not justify their actions. On the contrary, victimizing the children and putting them in harm’s way only makes them the worst of criminals”.

Christian Jeanbart: “because to them it is a sense of ownership. To John and George the kids belong to them and they wouldn’t care much about us the mothers or about the emotional trauma that the boys are going through. Also, I think the Silah brothers are using the children as a shield to protect themselves from the people whom they have scammed while victimizing their own sons and putting them in harm’s way. How selfish is that! I pray to God that justice prevails and both brothers get the punishment that they deserve!”

Anyone with information, please call +1 (310) 482-6334. A website has been created with the latest updated information www.findthesilahchildren.com.

Let’s hope for a Christmas miracle to bring Alex, Zaven and Greg back to their mothers safe, because there is nothing crueler than taking a child away from his family.

Good luck Zanni and Christine… our hearts are with you and we will remember you in our prayers.

 

Poster about the missed children (photos of abducting fathers included).  

Original article published on Azad-hye.net by Sylvia Bourdjian
Many thanks to Sylvia for her efforts in helping us locate the children.

 

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The entire Westchester Lutheran church and school community as well as local Westchester community members supported a rummage sale organized by Westchester Lutheran school. The tireless efforts of school principal, Sandra Masted, along with classmates of Alex and Zaven and caring school parents dedicated long hours to set up on Friday evening and work various shifts on Saturday to make this event a success and raise over $2000.00 for the Association for the Recovery of Children. Christine and Zanni are deeply grateful for the school’s continued support with the effort to bring Alex, Zaven, and Greg home.

Westchester Lutheran is located at:

7831 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Ph: 310-670-5422
Web: www.wlcs.org

View Map

Alex, Greg and Zaven have been showcased on the popular CBS show “Without a trace”.

The FBI has updated their “Wanted” page and it has showcases the John and George Silah. They share page with links to other criminals and terrorists including Usama Bin Laden.

Click to enlarge

Visit the FBI’s Website

The times given are for the Los Angeles area so be sure to take a look at your local listings in your area.

I hope those of you who are not able to watch it at 4pm PST (Los Angeles) you will be abe to record it for later viewing.

Thank you all for your patience. It’s on, it’s off and now it’s going to be on again! Make plans to tune in and see what Dr.Phil has to say to Christine, Zanni and the fathers who took the children away from their loving family.

Dr. Phil Promo for the show as seen on TV.
(check your local listings)

Parental abductions are more common than you might think. Parental abductions and runaway cases make up the majority of missing children in the United States. In 2001 there were about 725,000 children reported missing, or nearly 2,000 per day. (source:infoline.org)

The Dr. Phil Show is the second highest-rated daytime talk show in the nation. The premise of his show is that he helps those who suffer from domestic violence, child abuse, depression, racism, substance abuse and other health issues.

This is a great opportunity for the public to recognize John and George Silah with a viewing audience of between 4 to 5 million, and repeats of the show also getting high ratings, hopefully someone will be able to help us find the children.

If you would care to donate, the Silah children’s case has been taken up by ARC and donations can be made towards the recovery efforts at the event. By making checks payable to ARC and writing”Silah Operation” in the memo area your contribution will be certain to go towards finding the boys . All donations though ARC are tax deductable. Tax ID # – 68-0650925

Christine and Zanni will also be present at the event and are looking forward to meeting all the kind supporters and friends that have been helping to Find the Silah Children.

Westchester Lutheran is located at:
7831 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Ph: 310-670-5422
Web: www.wlcs.org

View Map

The Event was a great success and I am so pleased that I attended. There was so much beautiful music, both inspirational and thought provoking. The school cheer leaders even made an appearance to bring in the concert with cheers for the boys. Wher ever the boys are I am sure they heard.

But the night was about the boys, Alex, Zaven and Greg. The stars of the show were the children of the school who sung their hearts out with emotion and passion. In a minute I was wanting to jump for joy and the next I was on the brink of tears.

I had to ask one of Alex’s teachers, Ms. Packman teacher of Social Studies “Does everyone in the school sing?” She said, “Just about!”. The band was made up of teachers and students that graduated last year and they performed flawlessly.

Bazzel Baz gave a clear accounting of what we could expect from The Association for the Recovery of Children (ARC). Although it was not what some might have wanted to hear, Mr. Baz reminded us all that we might see the boys back in a week, a month, a year or two. He said also that ARC will do everything in their power to make the homecoming of the children a reality. Mr. Baz told us that in every occasion it is the power of prayer and our submition to God’s will that brings home the children and that He and his organization are the instruments that can make it happen. His uplifting talk left me with an increased feeling of hope, but tempered with a dose of reality.

And Brianna… 
You were inspirational and I thank you for your beautiful performance. You have given me the push I needed to do all I can to help the School do all they can to bring your dear friend Alex, brother Zaven and cousin Greg home safe. You sing like an Angel, Alex’s Angel. Keep singing, he will hear you.

Paul Shepherd 
Editor/builder
FindTheSilahChildren.com