Absent children constant misery

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/09/2011 (5440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EMILY Cablek hopes her children will still remember her.

But it’s been more than three years since the 29-year-old last saw her two children, before their biological father allegedly abducted them.

Her son, Dominic Maryk, was seven years old in August 2008, and her daughter, Abby Maryk, was only five years old.

Police have told Cablek her son and daughter are not in Canada, and she wants to raise money to make her own efforts toward their return.

“Every day still gets to me, every special occasion still gets to me. It’s so very, very hard to get through all of it,” said Cablek, 29.

She said she hopes her kids have memories of her, but she’s not sure they’d have a way to reach her.

“They may not be allowed to use phones, they may not be allowed to use the computer,” she said.

Police had launched an earlier plea for help, looking for clues for where Cablek’s former common-law husband, Kevin Maryk, had gone with the kids.

Maryk was last seen at a car rental agency on King Edward Street in August 2008, after he’d taken the children for a visit. When they didn’t return, police issued a Canada-wide warrant for him in connection with the children’s disappearance, as well as for Kevin Maryk’s nephew, Cody McKay.

McKay was also believed to be an alleged accomplice to the kidnapping, said police, after he disappeared at the same time.

Cablek said she didn’t want to leave her children with Maryk due to a “bad feeling” she had.

The two had been embroiled in a custody dispute, but a court ruled in 2007 Cablek had primary care of the children and Maryk had visitation rights.

“It was their first long visit in the summer with their father,” she said. “I didn’t want my kids to go, and so I cried, and Dominic and Abby didn’t want me crying… Dominic said, ‘Don’t worry, Mommy, everything will be OK.’ So the last thing I got was hugs and kisses, and they walked through the door, and that’s it.”

In the absence of her kids, Cablek’s own life has changed.

She plans to return to school next year to become a teacher.

“It’s difficult all year, and especially now, because when the kids are going back to school it’s also my daughter’s birthday,” she said.

Cablek has set up a trust account through TD Canada Trust, where Manitobans can make donations in her name that will go toward bringing the kids back.

While Cablek is assisting with the police investigation, she’d like to hire a private investigator or create a reward for information. She didn’t anticipate her kids would be gone this long and has had her hopes dashed before.

“If the kids aren’t in Canada, like I have been told, then I know there’s only so much the police can do from here,” she said. Police continue to investigate the disappearance.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca