In an alternate life, Keisuke Collins would have started high school last week as a freshman at Foothill High. But in reality, Keisuke lives an ocean away from Orange County and from the father who misses him.
In the wake of a bitter divorce, Collins’ ex-wife, Reiko, spirited their then-5-year-old to her native Japan. Officials there have made “zero attempt” to reunite father and son, he said.
Randy Collins, 56, has not spoken with the boy throughout his school career. “Not a day goes by that he isn’t on my mind,” said the Santa Ana resident.
Collins and dozens of other parents in similar situations around the country have bonded over their common cause. They share a passion for testifying before congressional hearings and for imploring politicians to take action. They share a national organization, Bring Abducted Children Home – which counts about 400 children living in Japan without access to their American parents. Mostly, however, they share heartache.
Collins’ ex-wife could not be reached for comment. The Orange County attorney who represented her in the divorce did not return requests for comment.
The last time Collins saw Keisuke was June 2008, when they spent a jam-packed Father’s Day together. They attended church, visited the Discovery Cube, grabbed a bite for lunch and played at the beach. Then Collins took the child back to his mom, expecting to see him again the following night.
But she phoned the next afternoon and said Keisuke was under the weather. Little did Collins realize she had placed the call from the Seattle airport on her way to Japan, ignoring a court order that forbade her from leaving the country with their child, he said.
“She was already gone,” said Collins, who works in mortgage lending. Thus began an expensive and fruitless legal effort to get Keisuke back.
That mission included a 2015 trip to Japan with his best friend since Westminster High School, Ta’alolo Puni Pa’u.
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