Together at last: Adoptive parents of baby Veronica smile for the cameras they are reunited as a family after two-year custody battle with her biological father
- Baby Veronica was handed over to her adoptive parents on Monday after a two year custody battle
- The Oklahoma Supreme Court dissolved a temporary court order leaving the child with her father and his family
- Matt and Melanie Capobianco of Charleston, S.C. had resolved to not leave Oklahoma until they went home with the 4-year-old girl
- The Capobiancos and the girl's biological father, Dusten Brown, had fought over custody of the girl for years
37
View
comments
The adoptive parents of baby Veronica spent their first full day with the four-year-old girl today after winning a two-year custody battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A spokeswoman for Matt and Melanie Capobianco said they will not announce when they intend to leave with Veronica, who lived with them for the first two years of her life before a court granted custody to her biological father, Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The girl was returned to them Monday.
On Tuesday, the Capobianco family released a statement asking for privacy in a case that has drawn international attention.
Scroll Down for Video
Happy Families: In this photo provided by the Capobianco Family, Veronica, (center), poses for a photo with her adoptive parents, Melanie Capobinco, left, and Matt Capobianco, at an undisclosed location Monday, Sept. 23, 2013
'Despite our differences, and everything that has happened over the last several months, we all love Veronica and want what is best for her,' the family said. 'We are all doing well and our focus now is on healing and getting our life back to normal.'
The custody exchange was made around 7:30 Monday night just minutes from the home that Dusten Brown, Veronica’s biological father, was living with his wife Christina Maldonado, according to Cherokee County undersheriff Jason Chennault.
RELATED ARTICLES
Baby Veronica handed back to her adoptive parents following... 
Missing toddler Ayla's mother claims to have seen evidence...
Share this article
ShareVeronica has been living in the Cherokee Nation with her father, Dusten Brown, and his family since she was 2 years old. Before that, she lived with the South Carolina couple who had taken custody of her shortly after her birth.
Two South Carolina sheriff's deputies and a state Law Enforcement Division agent have arrived in Oklahoma to travel with the family, said Major James Brady of the Charleston County Sheriff's office on Tuesday.
Relieved: Melanie and Matt Capobianco stand side by side before a news conference in South Carolina last month - they have won their long legal battle to gain custody over Baby Veronica
Relieved: Melanie and Matt Capobianco stand side by side before a news conference on James Island, South Carolina last month in which they appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to grant them custody of Baby Veronica
Adopted parents: Matt and Melanie Capobianco were awarded custody of the girl they raised from birth
'Obviously, it's an issue that's created a lot of emotion,' Brady said. 'It helps to have deputies on hand to make sure that they get home safely.'
The Capobiancos had been in Oklahoma for the past month trying to win back custody of Veronica. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in their favor on Monday, Veronica was returned to them by her biological father.
Legal issues and further potential challenges remain in the case, which already has been heard in numerous South Carolina courts and Oklahoma district courts, the high courts of both states, Cherokee tribal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, faces an extradition order to South Carolina on charges of custodial interference for refusing to hand over Veronica earlier this summer, after her adoption by the Capobiancos was finalized.
Brown is due in court October 3rd for a hearing on those charges.
Decision time: Dusten Brown (second from left) enters the Cherokee County Courthouse with his wife Robin Brown last month for a hearing in which he was granted a temporary stay of custody of his daughter
Handed himself over: Dusten Brown, left and right with his daughter Veronica, his stay to keep custody of his daughter was overturned on Monday, 23rd September by the Oklahoma Supreme CourtCherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree said Brown still has a pending appeal asking the state of Oklahoma not to recognize the adoption, and attorneys advocating for him met on Tuesday to discuss 'a myriad of legal options.'
Brown will ultimately be the one to decide whether to keep fighting for Veronica, Hembree said.
'Dusten makes those calls about what is in Veronica's best interest,' Hembree said. 'It's a situation that no father wants to ever find himself in.'
The Capobiancos arranged a private adoption of Veronica with her birth mother, who is Hispanic, before the child was born in September 2009.
Brown, who was not married to Veronica's biological mother, signed away his parental rights but later said he did not know about the planned adoption.
Watch Video Here:
Torn: This undated photo provided by the Capobianco Family shows four-year-old Veronica, bottom, with Melanie Capobianco during a recent visitation
Terrible Situation: This undated photo provided by the Capobianco Family shows four-year-old Veronica, left, with Melanie Capobianco
He contested the adoption under the Indian Child Welfare Act, which aims to prevent the breakup of Indian families, and was granted custody of Veronica by a South Carolina court in 2011.
But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the act did not apply in part because Brown had not provided support to the birth mother or the child. South Carolina courts finalized the adoption in July, and Oklahoma courts ordered the transfer of Veronica back to her adoptive parents.
The transfer of the child came hours after the Oklahoma Supreme Court lifted a stay on Monday that had kept Veronica in the state, where she and Brown were living on tribal land in Tahlequah with relatives.
In a statement late on Monday, Hembree said the hand-over of Veronica was emotional but peaceful.
'Our hope is that this chapter has ended and both families can move on,' said Jennifer Cherock, a spokeswoman for the Capobiancos.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2FdX%2BQbmhsZ3KWr7p5tZ6pqKaZmK60ecCdpqmsmauybrzAq5ynrKNimqLA02aEnqSRo7ameaKap6iamZa7pLuMrKSipJVisKK5xKuYrGWimsKvtdOem2egpKK5