CHANDLER, AZ --
Rick Myers' boys, Dean and Adi, are in Israel with their Israeli mother.
“I want them to remember me, I send them pictures of me so they don’t forget me,” Myers said Friday.
They were living in the U.S. when she took the boys to visit family.
“And the last time she left she refused to come back,” Myers said.
When he went to see them in Israel he says he was held there, due to child support issues.
Myers says he sends her a check every month, but she and her lawyer claim it’s not enough. A judge put a 'no exit' order on his passport. He was supposed to stay just one week, but was now there indefinitely.
Five weeks later he says he had to break Israeli law and use an expired passport to return to the U.S. to protect his job.
He thinks back to the last time he saw his boys.
“I said 'good bye' and told them I’d see them in the morning," Myers said. "I remember them, they were actually holding hands walking towards the elevator and I just remember looking at them thinking those poor kids. They’re not gonna see me tomorrow, because I’m gonna most likely be on a plane."
While he says he has shared custody in the U.S. and Israel, he hasn’t seen the boys in three years.
“I won’t see my kids and have the relationship with my kids unless I pay her what she wants,” said Myers.
He has sought many avenues to try and get the Israeli government to enforce the custody arrangement. He says he even turned to the U.S. State Department who actually sent representatives to try and make contact with his kids. But he says their efforts failed and they eventually dropped his case.
“I’ve contacted Senator McCain, I think he’s gonna be my best bet,” Myers said.
The Senator’s response to Myers' plea for help at last week’s town hall in Mesa gave him hope again.
“I will personally review it and do everything I can to see you see your children. And I’m sorry, we’re all sorry,” said Senator McCain.
Now he waits.
“I’m sad, of course, I’m sad,” Myers said.
But hopefully he won’t be sad for much longer.
