Cops are on the lookout for a Boerum Hill woman who they say may have illegally fled the country with her 7-year-old daughter amid a custody battle with the child’s father, according to police.
Authorities believe Ulrike Berger absconded to Germany on March 22, with her daughter Kaia Berger in tow, according to an alert released on Thursday.
Kaia’s father dropped the girl off with her mother on March 21 at Berger’s Butler Street home, with the agreement that he would pick her up later at an agreed-upon date, police said. But the next day, Berger allegedly took the couple’s daughter to Germany in violation of a court order prohibiting her from leaving the country with the child, according to a report.
The alleged abduction is not the first time Berger has come under scrutiny for leaving the country with her daughter. Court records show that Berger has been locked in a custody dispute with Kaia’s father since at least 2012, when a Maryland court ruled that Berger had violated the custody rights of Kaia’s father when she took their daughter to Germany that year without his permission.
A lawyer for Berger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577–8477. The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
