Frank & Ashley Gonis of Montreal:  BC Judge backs Quebec Mom's Move-Away to BC

Runaway girl's mom willing to turn self in, May 26, 2009

VANCOUVER – The mother of Ashley Gonis, the 10-year-old girl who resurfaced in Vancouver after her alleged abduction from Montreal two years ago, said she is not afraid of an arrest warrant that will force her back to Quebec.  Araceli Bravo, Ashley's mother, said she is willing to turn herself in to police after learning that Montreal police have extended an arrest warrant Canada-wide.

Ashley Gonis ran away from home and walked seven kilometers to a pay phone at a commuter train station last month where she called 911 to say she had been abused. After authorities arrived, they found Ashley had been declared missing by her father since 2007.  Bravo allegedly abducted Ashley from the girl's father, Frank Gonis. But she said in an interview yesterday that she has never hidden her identity and the B.C. government is aware of her existence because she collects income assistance.

"I did not hide from either the government or the police, only from him," said Bravo.

"Everyone else knew. I did my income taxes here. The government knows where I am and how to contact him. To this day I have no reason to hide from anybody official." 

Bravo said she has taken out a Restraining Order against Gonis who she said had no interest in seeing his daughter before. 

The woman added it was the Montreal police who advised her to move away after she and Ashley sought refuge in a Women's Shelter.

Ashley ran away from home April 10, Bravo said in an interview, because they had earlier fought about the girl's wish to wear a T-shirt with the word "virgin" on it. That shirt was not appropriate for a 10-year-old.   Ashley is now in the care of ministry officials and Bravo, 45, said she visits her three times a week.

After Ashley resurfaced in Vancouver, her father travelled from Montreal to try to visit her. But ministry officials are not allowing him to see her and he returned to Montreal where he has been unable to call Ashley.  Gonis said he's been told he can see his daughter after Bravo has been arrested. "It's more red tape I have to go through. It's been a little over a month," said Gonis. "I don't want to go back there and keep fighting the courts over allegations that she has made."  Gonis said Bravo did file a restraining order against him but every allegation she has made against him has never been proven in court.

Montreal police Cmdr. Guy Ouellet advised Bravo to turn herself over to police in B.C. or in Quebec as soon as possible.

2009-05-26  Runaway girl's mom willing to turn self in

Frank Gonis "ecstatic" his daughter is okay Apr. 15 2009

The father of a missing Quebec girl found in BC is ecstatic that she is okay, he told CTV Montreal on Wednesday.  Frank Gonis is the father of 10-year-old Ashley Gonis. Custody was awarded to Frank two years ago after Ashely's mother abducted her.

Ashely had been living in Vancouver with her mother, but ran away from home on Friday.   She called 911 from a payphone at a SkyTrain station, scared and asking to be taken into foster care. It's a move that shows much initiative on the part of a young person. When police ran her name, they found that she had been reported missing and there was a warrant out for her mother issued in 2008.

Frank Gonis is currently amassing paperwork to prove to a Vancouver court that he has legal custody of Ashley. "And we also don't know what the mom may, or may not, have said against he father so she has to now be ready to meet up with her dad and to return to Quebec," said Pina Arcamone of the Missing Children's Network. "And part of our role here [ ...] is to guide the father as well because he also has not seen his daughter in two years."

2009-04-15  Frank Gonis "ecstatic" his daughter is okay