Ben Baier has launched court action on both sides of the Atlantic after his sons disappeared in March, with judges raising welfare concerns and lawyers urging the public to help trace them15:00, 08 Sep 2026A desperate dad has issued a fresh plea for his two young sons to be brought home after more than five months being separated from them.‌Ben Baier, 43, says he has not seen five-year-old Blaine and three-year-old Nathaniel, known as Nate, since they travelled to the UK in March for court-ordered contact with their mother, Nishika Samaratunga. He had flown the boys from their home near Denver, Colorado, so they could spend time with Ms Samaratunga, 34, but says she failed to return them at a UK airport on March 29. Their whereabouts have not been publicly confirmed since.‌The case is now being fought through courts on both sides of the Atlantic, with proceedings continuing in the High Court in London and in Colorado. Late last month, the Colorado court ordered that Ms Samaratunga should not have contact with the boys after finding that she “presents an ongoing significant risk of harm” to them.‌In a 29-page ruling, District Judge Michal Anne Lord-Blegen said: “Her abduction of the children, a crime in both the United States and the United Kingdom, confirms that she will take any measure to keep the children from [their] father.”Ben's lawyers have also raised concerns that Blaine and Nate, who both have autism, do not appear to be attending school or nursery and may not be receiving medical care.‌Now their dad has appealed directly to the public for help. He said: “My only concern at this point is ensuring that Blaine and Nathaniel are safe – children should not have to grow up on the run. Anything the British public can do to help us locate the children will help them get the support that they need.“For more than five months now they have been cut off from friends, family and the only home they’d ever known, without access to the necessary resources to support their health and development. Please, Nishika, bring the boys home.”How the boys came to be in the UKBen and Samaratunga married in 2020 before their relationship broke down in 2024. Ms Samaratunga later applied to a Colorado court for permission to relocate the children to London, but the request was refused. The court ordered in October that Ben become the boys’ primary custodial parent, while also requiring him to bring them to England for contact with their mother.‌A first visit took place between December and January, followed by a second in March. But when he went to collect the boys to fly them home, Ms Samaratunga allegedly failed to return them.Judge Lord-Blegen later said Mr Baier’s “worst fear has been realised when mother executed her premeditated and routinely threatened abduction of the children”.‌Court raised concerns over the boys' welfareThe Colorado court has since made a series of findings about the children's care. Judge Lord-Blegen said the family home had previously become “uninhabitable” and had “deteriorate to the point that it was unsafe and unsanitary for the children to reside”.She said: “The children were residing in a home the condition of which bordered on injurious and neglectful, putting her desire to punish, harm, and disparage (their) father ahead of the children’s need for a secure, safe, and clean residence.”The judge also confirmed Ms Samaratunga made further attempts to relocate the children and accused Ben of child abuse and domestic violence as part of her “plotting against him” in an effort to stop him from “having any meaningful contact” with their sons.Article continues belowSearch stretches across UKAfter the boys were not returned in March, Ben began High Court proceedings in an effort to locate them and secure their return. Judges in the UK have since issued orders involving organisations including JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Thames Water and the NHS in attempts to trace Ms Samaratunga. However the efforts have so far failed to establish where the boys are.The High Court has allowed details of the case to be made public in an effort to help find them.Amy Rowe, a partner at Hunters Law LLP, representing Mr Baier, said: “It is vital for Blaine and Nathaniel’s welfare, both short- and long-term, that they are returned home safely. Please contact us confidentially if you have any information about their whereabouts.”