Kidnapper to parent: "You will never see your children again."
by James J. Keene PhD
April 16, 2003 This father was so proud of his children -- James R. Keene and Grace J. Keene -- as they neared completion of their training as U.S. air force pilots, successfully completing reconnaissance missions over Middle East hot spots and landing their jets on navy carriers at night. Then they were captured by the dreaded Davis-Flores regime.
Their training success and their taking into captivity are remarkable stories, since James was only 7 years old and Grace was just 10 at the time. My air force pilots trained with a video game on a 286 computer and were kidnapped by their troubled mother, Nilda Davis-Flores, Feb 1, 1995.
Kidnap Team Strikes
The taking and detention of these two brilliant young pilots required a series of betrayals and the use of force. The force was what social scientists call the force of authority, e.g., the power a parent exerts over young children.
One betrayal was to have the children write a note to leave for me, their father, while I was at work. The children were made to write and sign the falsehood that they were leaving our home with Mrs. Sandra Cooles and their mother to visit the Cooles family for the day in the southern part of Dominica.
Upon returning home, I soon found that Nilda had taken the children's passports and her own medical licensing papers. So Sandra Cooles providing the transportation and Dr. Nilda started the kidnapping of two innocent American pilots who could take into their captivity nothing more than their backpacks containing their swim suits. The entire happy life that these loyal pilots had known was erased in one stroke of treachery.
By later descriptions from the misguided Sandra Cooles herself, she participated in a carefully orchestrated plan to be sure that I could not reach the Cooles' residence by phone before Mrs. Cooles had taken Nilda to purchase airline tickets and Nilda's flight into foreign territory had left the ground.
Although the initial cover-story was that the abrupt departure was due to some sort of "emergency", phone records show a flurry of calls between Nilda and other Davis-Flores co-abductors in Puerto Rico several days before the kidnapping. In fact, brother Luis Davis-Flores knew exactly when to pick up Nilda and the abducted children at the airport in Puerto Rico, the power base of the Davis-Flores kingdom. This and other evidence suggests that the kidnapping was a well-planned crime and not an improvised response to any "emergency".
After much effort and many hours, I finally reached Nilda and my children by phone at the house of co-abductor Ana Davis-Flores. Both Grace and Jimmy said that they did not know why they were taken to Puerto Rico and "I want to be home, Daddy."
It became my task to represent the "free" side of the Keene family to the Davis-Flores regime in Puerto Rico holding the captured hostages. In another call, my daughter Grace made a very telling statement.
Grace said that before they were taken from Dominica, she asked the kidnap team in Dominica not to take she and her brother Jimmy from their home and that they should stay in Dominica so they could see their Daddy. I believe the word of my daughter.
Known members of the so-called kidnap squad in Dominica were Dr. Nilda and Sandra Cooles. It is likely that the location where my children begged not to be taken away was the Cooles' residence. This raises the question of the location and knowledge of this sordid affair of (1) the husband, Dr. Philip Cooles, and (2) the Cooles' children, who were friends of my children. It is likely that at least some of these other persons were present or were contacted by phone. Whoever was present or otherwise participating, the statement of my daughter, Grace Keene, shortly after the kidnapping, indicates that the kidnap team in Dominica denied the entreaties of their child captives and proceeded with the kidnapping.
As the victim parent, I can only describe this as a cold, calculated crime. The kidnapped children were brutalized right from the word go.
Captured Pilots Brutalized
At the time of the lightening strike of this kidnap crew, neither my son nor daughter had received any "training" on what U.S. soldiers need to know upon being taken prisoner by an oppressive regime. Neither have I. Who has? So it is no surprise that my 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy would have no idea of the terror they would face.
Grace's statement that she had prevailed upon the kidnap team to let her see and stay with her Daddy would no doubt be a loud alarm bell to the perpetrators both in Dominica and Puerto Rico. For example, statements of the victim children may further implicate the Cooles family in the plot.
Once in Puerto Rico, the prisoners rebelled. While this shows bravery and character on the part of my children, rebellion may be risky for captives of such a heartless and repressive clan.
In fact, the first tactic of the Davis-Flores gang was to throw their prisoners in the lockup and to try to break their spirit. Thus, the captives disappeared and were hidden "underground" as described in the Keene Kids chronologies.
The prisoners were held at a "secret" location and no contact by phone was allowed with the author, their father. During this period, my children must have begun to realize that "this is for real" and "we have been taken prisoners by cruel demented people". In spite of being so terrorized, I might say it is almost unbelievable that these brave children rebelled again.
Indeed, the lead kidnapper, Nilda Davis-Flores, called me to say exactly that. The children were "rebelling" and "demanded" to talk to me. Just as a Saddam dictator might, it appears at this phase that the Davis-Flores clan decided to "regroup" and let the children blow off some steam.
However, at that time, the fate of these captured air force pilots did not look good. As spokesperson, so to speak, for the Davis-Flores regime, Nilda was careful to point out to me, "You will never see your children again."
Here we see a repressive regime headed by a female, which might be somewhat novel, within the context of the comparison in this article of the Davis-Flores gang with an oppressive dictatorship. At least we can observe that a female can be as cold-hearted and ruthless as a male.
Of course, the Davis-Flores clan knew they had plenty of time to break these children and turn them into puppets in their wicked freak show.
According to information from Dr. Nyda Figueroa MD, Nilda was herself an abused child. Thus, Nilda would know from first-hand experience how to abuse her own children. Unlike several other MD physicians involved in this case, Dr. Figueroa is both sane and ethical.
Dr. Figueroa was a childhood friend and close buddy and confidant of Nilda all the way through college and medical school. I met with her in Puerto Rico as court proceedings on this case were developing. She was prepared to testify that, to her knowledge, Nilda had been abused as a child and "kept in a cardboard box". It may be no surprise, then, that Nilda has for eight years attempted to keep the kidnapped children confined in a sort of cardboard box.
Insane Puppet Show
First, the victim children must have been convinced that they had no means of escape, no hope of freedom. Brainwashing a la the Elizabeth Smart case and isolation from other people, children or adults, who might have a sane view of reality were utilized. The author has seen Nilda scare the hell out of adults. Before the kidnapping, her paranoid delusions often frightened my children. Imagine what she could do with young children given sufficient time, without the moderation which I had provided.
As just one example of the falsehoods fed daily to my children over this long period, consider this. At one point, my children, no doubt yearning to see their beloved father, were told that I was moving to live and work in Puerto Rico. However, there was no basis in fact for that assertion. Call it another delusion of a deeply disturbed kidnapper. Or call it a calculated and intentional cruelty to my children to raise their hopes with full knowledge that there was no basis for this fabrication and that my children would experience profound disappointment down the road.
When my children reached a point of sufficient demoralization in their false imprisonment, the Davis-Flores puppet show could begin. My children were made to write ocassional letters to me, which observers have described as the most unusual letters from child to parent that they have seen.
Such captives may be made to perform in the puppet show to prove, so to speak, to the world that the Davis-Flores regime is not a brutal dictatorship. For example, captured pilots might be forced to make statements against their own government and be paraded before television cameras as a propaganda device of an oppressive regime.
It is not known whether or how far the inner spirit of my children has been broken and maybe destroyed for ever. It is known that even several years after the kidnapping, my children were still demanding to see their father.
It is a certainty, though, that a healing process is needed. Until my children have the opportunity to interact with their family in an environment without the duress of their kidnappers, where they can truly know that they are finally safe, nobody can know the truth of what they have experienced -- not even the children themselves.
Witness how the Iraqi people would not express themselves freely until there was little doubt that their Saddam, and his fear tactics, were neutralized. After eight years of wrongful confinement by the Davis-Flores regime, my children will no doubt need some tender care and assurance before their nightmare can be over.
Note: I have tried to present material on this site in an educational and interesting manner. The reader should please note that the behavioral problems of Nilda, my former wife, predate the kidnapping by many years and that I have cared for her and protected her over many years. Thus, none of the content on this site should be construed as hostility toward her. She appears to be profoundly troubled and it is the behaviors which may be evaluated as "wicked" or "criminal", not the person per se. Thank you for reading. Hopefully, my children can understand this also, since, after all, Nilda is and will always be their biological mother.
Copyright © 2003 James J. Keene
Original Publication: April 16, 2003
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