This recap of Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 9, “Abducted by a Parent”, contains spoilers. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Ahmed Kandil and Rabia Khalid, you can visit unsolved.com.
The final episode of Unsolved Mysteries Volume 3, “Abducted by a Parent”, lives up to its title with two different cases in which a parent has disappeared with their child. Unlike Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 5, which split its focus far too thin and suffered for it, this episode is actually enhanced by the dual focus, as we can see how the same themes and emotions manifest in different circumstances, making for a powerful 40 minutes.
Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 9 recap
The first story involves Rebecca Downey and her husband Ahmed Kandil, who disappeared with their two children, Belel and Amina, in 2014. Ahmed is an Egyptian Muslim who was ruined during the 2008 financial crash, which led to the breakdown of his marriage to Rebecca and, allegedly, a more extreme embrace of his faith.
In the episode, Rebecca alleges that Ahmed took the kids on what was ostensibly a trip to see family in Canada, but evidence since that has revealed that he took them from JFK Airport to Turkey via Kyiv in the Ukraine – a part of Turkey, it’s worth mentioning, right on the border with Syria. Ahmed and the kids haven’t been seen since, and the only contact has been an email from Ahmed sent in September 2015 which claims the kids are safe and well on a small farm, but will only contact their mother when they are old enough to distinguish right from wrong.
In the second story, we switch to the opposite perspective for a bit of balance. Here, we’re introduced to Abdul Khan, a man who fell in love with and married a woman named Rabia Khalid, and had a son with her named Aziz in 2010. As often happens, the relationship started out strong and eventually soured, and they mutually agreed on a separation during which Abdul believed they were working on their relationship.
During that separation, Rabia filed for divorce. The process was lengthy and difficult, and the custody dispute after even rougher. Rabia invented several accusations of abuse which were subsequently disproved, and Abdul was awarded full custody, but he unfortunately never saw his son again. Rabia absconded with the boy and her new partner, Elliot Bourgeois. The kidnapping was clearly planned well in advance, and there has been no evidence about their whereabouts since.
In both stories we see the sheer pain in these parents, but it’s a unique kind of pain, perhaps even worse than the grief of loss, since not knowing where your child is and whether they’re safe and healthy is an endless torment. For these kids to be snatched by their own parents only makes the trauma more profound. In many ways, this is the most emotionally stirring this volume of Unsolved Mysteries has been, and one suspects that many viewers will be keen to aid both parents in their search.
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