American mother Candace Lawson is seized in a Bangkok hostel after nearly two years on the run. FBI intelligence leads Thai police to her missing son, found safe after his father mounted an 18-month search and offered a $25,000 reward. Oregon awaits.
An international hunt ended inside a Bangkok hostel when Thai immigration police arrested American fugitive Candace Lawson and found her missing son safe. Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence led officers to the Prawet hideout after almost two years. The Oregon “parental kidnapping” case had driven the boy’s father into an 18-month search backed by a $25,000 reward.
Thai immigration police have arrested an American woman accused of taking her son and fleeing across continents. Candace Lawson, 45, was detained at a Bangkok hostel on August 19. She had reportedly remained in Thailand for almost two years. Meanwhile, an Oregon state court had issued a warrant for “parental kidnapping.”
Officers found her young son inside the same Prawet district hostel. Notably, the boy was safe and showed no signs of injury. Child welfare officials immediately assumed responsibility for his protection. Afterwards, Thai officials began procedures to return him to his father.
The father, Mr Abdelaziz Hassan Mahmoud, known as Aziz, had searched for his son for over 18 months. During that period, he filed police reports and hired a private investigator. He also launched a website carrying photographs and information about the missing child. In addition, his campaign offered a $25,000 reward for the boy’s safe return.
Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence leads Thai officers to the Bangkok hostel hiding place
Immigration Division 3 conducted the raid with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Earlier, United States investigators had provided crucial information concerning Ms Lawson’s possible location. Thai immigration officials then revoked her permission to remain in the kingdom. As a result, police could detain her under Thai immigration law.
Investigators examined immigration records, travel information and possible addresses. Gradually, their inquiry narrowed towards Bangkok’s eastern Prawet district. Officers then placed the hostel under surveillance and confirmed Ms Lawson’s presence. At the same time, they established that her son was staying there.
On August 19, the team entered the accommodation and took Ms Lawson into custody. Inside, officers found the child and secured his immediate safety. Subsequently, they contacted agencies responsible for child protection and welfare. No resistance, injuries or confrontation were reported during the operation.
Police checked Ms Lawson’s passport against information supplied by American investigators. Accordingly, officers confirmed she was the woman connected with the Oregon warrant. They also verified that her Thai immigration permission had been revoked. She was then transferred to Immigration Division 3 for further processing.
Immigration commanders pledge firm action after American mother and missing child found in Bangkok
Police Major General Songprod Sirisukha, Commander of Immigration Division 3, confirmed the operation. He said Thailand would not become a refuge for foreign fugitives. Furthermore, he stressed that police would act decisively when children’s welfare was involved. He also pledged continued cooperation with international law enforcement agencies.
The operation followed a wider Immigration Bureau policy targeting foreign fugitives. Police Lieutenant General Panumas Boonyalak, Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, directed that policy. In parallel, Police Major General Panthana Nuchanart supervised its implementation as deputy commissioner. Their instructions covered foreigners using Thailand to evade criminal proceedings abroad.
Several Immigration Division 3 commanders oversaw the case. Police Colonel Decho Sosuwankul participated as one of the division’s deputy commanders. Separately, Police Colonel Prinya Klinakesorn and Police Colonel Chinawut Tangwonglert helped supervise the investigation. Police Colonel Suriya Puangsombat led the investigation unit responsible for tracing Ms Lawson.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Ithithorn Prasertsak also helped oversee the operation. As part of this, Police Lieutenant Colonel Anupap Tujinda joined the field team. Police Lieutenant Thirarat Siri and Police Lieutenant Matra Chitthanaphat also participated. Police Lieutenant Thanawich Lueangon and Police Lieutenant Thitiyapong Thatsat completed the named immigration team.
Bangkok intelligence team joins immigration officers before raid ends the Thai phase of global search
The Metropolitan Police Bureau provided additional intelligence support. On another front, Police Lieutenant Colonel Nithi Piyaphan joined from its intelligence and special tools division. The combined force conducted surveillance before moving into the Prawet hostel. The arrest then ended the Thai phase of an international search.
The family dispute began during late 2024. According to Mr Mahmoud’s campaign, the child travelled from California to Lake Oswego, Oregon. He arrived on December 21 for a planned visit with his mother. The visit was supposed to finish on December 26.
After that, the boy was expected to return to his father. Initially, Mr Mahmoud maintained contact with him through the child’s iPad. However, those communications suddenly stopped. The father then lost direct contact and began searching for his son.
Mr Mahmoud said Ms Lawson later obtained a passport for the child. Thereafter, she left the United States without his consent, according to his public account. His campaign placed their international departure in February 2025. By contrast, the official missing-person record listed March 12 as the last-contact date.
The difference reflects separate points within the developing case. One date concerns the reported international departure. The other records the official last contact used by investigators. Nevertheless, no complete public chronology has reconciled every reported date.
Father loses contact after planned Oregon visit as mother reportedly takes child outside America
Mr Mahmoud said his lawyers filed an emergency application on March 7, 2025. Four days later, Judge Sonia B. Dujan granted him full custody, he said. Therefore, the final custody order may have followed the child’s initial removal. Earlier Thai police accounts instead suggested custody had been decided before Ms Lawson left.
No published Oregon judgment has resolved that difference. Even so, an Oregon state court later issued the parental kidnapping warrant. The father’s campaign said a domestic arrest warrant followed during March 2025. Moreover, it reported that an international warrant was issued in January 2026.
United States investigators later informed the Thai Immigration Bureau about the case. In response, Immigration Division 3 began examining Ms Lawson’s possible movements inside Thailand. Officers checked travel details, immigration information and suspected accommodation. The inquiry eventually led them to Prawet.
Thai police said the custody dispute involved concerns about Ms Lawson’s alcohol dependency. They also referred to reported mental health symptoms. Yet no medical records or detailed custody judgment have been made public. Consequently, those health claims remain attributed to police and the reported case file.
Oregon custody order and parental kidnapping warrants drive international search to Thailand
Ms Lawson has not publicly answered those claims. Likewise, no lawyer acting for her has issued a public response. Her account of the disappearance also remains unknown. Nor has she publicly addressed the circumstances surrounding the child’s passport.
Mr Mahmoud said the child had lived with him full-time after the couple separated during 2022. He also described their eight-year relationship as abusive. Additionally, he claimed a business dispute formed part of the conflict. He said access to the child was used as leverage during that dispute.
The father also accused Ms Lawson of using inaccurate birth information to secure the child’s passport. To date, no published court ruling has confirmed that claim. It therefore remains part of Mr Mahmoud’s public account. Ms Lawson has not issued a public response to the passport accusation.
After losing contact, Mr Mahmoud reported his son missing to police. Soon afterwards, he hired a private investigator to extend the search. He also created a website carrying photographs, physical details and updates. Through that site, he sought information from people inside and outside America.
The campaign offered $25,000 for information leading to the child’s safe return. Over time, the story attracted substantial attention across the United States. Online reports and public appeals carried the case to a much wider audience. Despite that exposure, the child remained missing for more than a year.
Father launches $25,000 campaign after passport claims and more than one year without his missing son
Later, the investigation shifted towards Southeast Asia. Significantly, Mr Mahmoud’s campaign referred to possible sightings in Bangkok or Pattaya. Thailand then became central to the search. Officials have not identified who provided the decisive location information.
American investigators ultimately passed crucial intelligence to the Thai Immigration Bureau. From there, Immigration Division 3 began tracing Ms Lawson through local records. Investigators followed possible addresses and monitored her movements. Eventually, the trail led directly to the Prawet hostel.
Officers confirmed Ms Lawson was staying there before launching the raid. Crucially, they also confirmed the child was at the same premises. The operation therefore combined a fugitive arrest with an urgent child welfare response. Specialist agencies were standing by to assume responsibility for the boy.
Thai police initially described the child as eight years old. However, the Oregon State Police database indicates he was nine when recovered. The record gives his birth date as May 11, 2017. Thus, he had already turned nine before the August 2026 operation.
American intelligence directs Thai officers to Prawet hostel where missing child is found alive and safe
The database said he was seven when reported missing. It described him as approximately four feet tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. It also named the Lake Oswego Police Department as the investigating agency. The official record listed March 12, 2025, as the date of last contact.
Mr Mahmoud’s campaign described his son as Palestinian-American. It also referred to recent possible sightings in Bangkok or Pattaya. Apparently, the age difference resulted from older missing-person information reaching later Thai reports. Thai police nevertheless continued describing the boy as eight when announcing the arrest.
Confusion also surrounded Ms Lawson’s name. Originally, Thai police identified the arrested woman only as “Linda”. Some accounts treated that name as a pseudonym. Conversely, the father’s campaign identified the child’s mother as Candace Lawson.
The campaign also said she had used the name Candace Ross. So far, no published Oregon court record has confirmed that alternative identity. Thai immigration officials did not release her full passport name. Neither did they explain why their announcement used “Linda”.
Ms Lawson’s legal position in Thailand remains unclear. For now, officials have confirmed the revocation of her immigration permission and subsequent detention. They have not announced whether formal extradition proceedings have begun. They have also identified no separate Thai criminal charge against her.
Oregon records clarify missing boy’s age as confusion surrounds his mother’s identity and legal status
Officials have not disclosed where she is being held. Similarly, no date has been announced for a Thai court appearance. No timetable has been published for her possible return to Oregon. Ms Lawson has made no public statement concerning her arrest or detention.
An American warrant does not automatically transfer a suspect from Thailand. Instead, any extradition or removal must follow Thai legal procedures. Those steps may include court hearings, immigration action and diplomatic coordination. At present, officials have not identified which procedure will govern her case.
There is also no confirmation that Ms Lawson will contest her transfer. Beyond that, no American court hearing has been announced. Officials have not said when she might face proceedings in Oregon. They have also not addressed treatment for her reported health conditions.
The child’s status involves separate welfare and custody procedures. Immediately after the raid, Thai agencies took responsibility for his safety. Officials then started arrangements for his return to Mr Mahmoud. However, police did not confirm whether the father had travelled to Thailand.
Some accounts say the father and son have already been reunited. Others reported that legal preparations were continuing. For clarity, police confirmed that the child was safe and under official protection. They also confirmed that procedures had begun for his return.
Extradition questions persist while Thai agencies arrange the child’s protected return to his father
No detailed announcement established when physical custody changed hands. Equally, officials did not identify where the child was housed after the raid. They withheld further welfare information while agencies handled his case. That protection process ran separately from proceedings involving Ms Lawson.
The arrest concluded a search spanning the United States and Thailand. In total, it involved American investigators, Thai immigration officers and child welfare agencies. Mr Mahmoud had also used police reports, private investigators and online publicity. His campaign continued for more than 18 months before the Bangkok breakthrough.
The $25,000 reward helped keep the disappearance before the American public. Meanwhile, possible Thai sightings redirected attention towards Bangkok and Pattaya. Cross-border intelligence then gave Thai officers the location needed for surveillance. The final operation ended inside a hostel in eastern Bangkok.
Cross-border operation closes 18-month hunt after investigators trace mother and son to eastern Bangkok
For Mr Mahmoud, the raid concluded an exhausting search for his son. For Thai police, it delivered a wanted American woman into immigration custody. Most importantly, officers found the missing child alive and unharmed. His return then became a matter for legal and welfare agencies.
Several questions nevertheless remain unanswered. Chiefly, officials have not disclosed whether Ms Lawson will face extradition or immigration removal. Her position before the Oregon court also remains unresolved. Likewise, no timetable has been announced for the child’s transfer.
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Thai and American officials must now handle different parts of the case. On one track, Ms Lawson faces proceedings linked to the Oregon warrant. On the other, welfare agencies must complete the boy’s return arrangements. Both processes began after the August 19 raid.
The immediate search, however, is over. Thai immigration police found the missing child safe inside the Prawet hostel. They also arrested the woman sought through the American investigation. After almost two years, the international pursuit ended in Bangkok.
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Further reading:
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