Hagued Mums – Exclusive Investigation
12th November 2025
On 13th August 2024, six-year-old Zynlea Hollenbeck disappeared from Stari Bar, Montenegro. She was taken by her father, Thomas Hollenbeck, a 34-year-old American with a documented history of drug trafficking, firearms offences, and domestic violence. What unfolded over the next 48 hours was not a rescue operation but an internationally coordinated extraction—one that campaigners say was enabled by the U.S. Embassy in Tirana and deliberately ignored by London’s Metropolitan Police.
Fifteen months later, Zynlea remains in the sole custody of her father. Her mother, Shannon Tracy, has had no physical contact with her daughter since the day she was taken—limited instead to a maximum of one hour of supervised FaceTime calls per week. Despite exhaustive efforts by Ms. Tracy’s legal team to propose comprehensive safety measures, including supervised visitation, on-site police presence (funded out-of-pocket by Ms. Tracy), ankle monitoring, and geofencing protocols, the court has repeatedly denied any in-person access. These proposals were designed to assure the court of Ms. Tracy’s commitment to compliance and to prevent any risk of flight. Yet the rulings persist: no physical contact. Critics question who truly benefits from this arrangement and whether it serves Zynlea’s best interests.
This is the detailed chronology of how it happened—and why the case has become a flashpoint in the global debate over the Hague Convention and institutional bias in parental-abduction cases.
The Abduction: 13-14th August 2024
Zynlea had lived with her mother in Montenegro since January 2021, with full custody granted to Ms. Tracy by U.S. courts prior to her departure from the United States, under the protection of a Montenegrin court order that reviewed evidence of domestic violence. Multiple U.S. police reports and an Oklahoma emergency protective order documented Mr. Hollenbeck’s history of threats, stalking, and physical intimidation.
At approximately 7 p.m. on 13th August, Mr. Hollenbeck took Zynlea from Stari Bar. By the following morning, he had illegally crossed into Albania, smuggling Zynlea without her passport or any legal documentation—Montenegrin police confirmed there was no record of a legal border crossing for either individual, underscoring Mr. Hollenbeck’s comfort in seriously breaking the law. Within one hour of receiving the alert, the Hagued Mums rapid-response network mobilised journalists across the region. That same day—within one hour of Hagued Mums receiving the first alert about the abduction—our rapid-response team and network of on-the-ground journalists mobilised, ensuring the story broke nationally. Euronews Albania aired a breaking-news segment (still available with English subtitles: https://youtu.be/T18U8gz8SvA). Reporters confronted the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, informing officials that the child was subject to an active abduction alert and a Montenegrin court order prohibiting her removal.
The Emergency Passport: 14th August 2024
Despite the televised warnings and direct contact from journalists, the U.S. Embassy in Tirana issued an emergency U.S. passport for Zynlea in her father’s name that same day. U.S. Department of State regulations require both parents’ consent or a court order overriding one parent’s objection before issuing a minor’s passport in such circumstances. Neither condition, campaigners allege, was met.
An Interpol Yellow Notice had already been activated. Montenegrin authorities notified their Albanian counterparts the moment the passport was scanned at Tirana airport.
Transit Through London: 14-15th August 2024
Mr. Hollenbeck boarded a flight to London Heathrow, scheduled to connect to Dallas. A London solicitor retained by Ms. Tracy contacted the Metropolitan Police Service, providing flight numbers and the active Interpol alert. According to contemporaneous statements from the legal team, police delayed substantive engagement until after the connecting flight had departed.
No officers were dispatched to the gate. No hold was placed on the aircraft. Zynlea left British soil without ever being questioned.
Return to Arkansas: The Influence of a Sheriff’s Son
Thomas Hollenbeck is the son of Bill Hollenbeck, who served as Sheriff of Sebastian County, Arkansas, for more than two decades. Public records and local reporting reveal a pattern:
- In 2014, Thomas Hollenbeck was arrested for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and marijuana wax. Police recovered pounds of narcotics, drug scales, and two firearms from his residence (5NEWS archive, 2014).
- In 2019, he was arrested for violating a protection order against Zynlea’s mother.
- Multiple domestic-violence reports and protective orders were filed against him in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Several charges were later reduced or dismissed.
- Former deputies quoted anonymously by local outlets have alleged that responding officers were instructed to contact the sheriff directly when calls involved his son, effectively neutralising enforcement.
While the Hollenbecks portray themselves as a law-abiding family—evident in Bill Hollenbeck’s books on law enforcement and public service—the repeated leniency in Thomas’s cases raises eyebrows. It seems rather strange that his son has faced such light consequences for serious charges; it wouldn’t come as a shock if familial influence from his sheriff father played a role in shielding him from full accountability. Sources close to the case suggest these ties may have contributed to the patterns in Thomas’s legal history, potentially emboldening him to pursue aggressive actions like the international abduction of his daughter without immediate repercussions. Critics argue that such perceived impunity not only protects individuals but can perpetuate cycles of unchecked behavior, transforming family disputes into broader violations of justice.
Upon landing in the United States, Shannon Tracy was not detained in Dallas. She travelled straight to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and within 24 hours turned herself in to authorities on an outstanding warrant. She was charged with interference with visitation (Case 66GCR-24-136) and received no jail time or probation. In the parallel family-court proceeding (66GDR-25-146), Zynlea’s court-appointed attorney and therapist have both recommended supervised contact with her mother. The presiding judge has not yet authorised any visits.
Ongoing Threats: A Pattern of Predation
The saga extends beyond Zynlea. While in Montenegro plotting his daughter’s abduction, Thomas Hollenbeck impregnated a local Ukrainian woman, according to reports close to the woman. Now back in the U.S., he has allegedly threatened her with plans to traffic their infant son across borders to America—mirroring the very tactics that tore Zynlea from her mother. This is the toxic legacy of unchecked impunity: a man, shielded by corrupt familial ties and diplomatic complicity, weaponising the systems meant to safeguard the vulnerable.
Compounding the outrage, an active international arrest warrant hangs over Thomas Hollenbeck for the Montenegro abduction. Campaigners hold out hope that his next reckless move—targeting this Ukrainian mother and her child—will finally ensnare him. If he attempts it, Interpol and foreign authorities may haul him off to a grim prison cell, where he can rot for the remainder of his days, far from the power he so brazenly abused.
The Hague Convention in Practice
The case has reignited criticism of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Intended to prevent parents from forum-shopping by fleeing to more favourable jurisdictions, the treaty mandates swift return to the child’s “habitual residence.” In practice, advocates argue, domestic-violence allegations are frequently discounted, and the petitioning parent—statistically far more often the father—receives institutional support.
U.S. State Department figures show that fewer than 30 % of Hague applications filed in the United States are brought by mothers. Campaigners point to dozens of documented cases in which mothers accused of abduction were detained at gunpoint upon arrival in the U.S., while fathers in analogous circumstances were escorted through customs.
The Zynlea Hollenbeck case is distinguished by the direct involvement of U.S. diplomatic personnel in issuing travel documents after being explicitly warned of an active abduction investigation.
Outstanding Questions
- Why did the U.S. Embassy in Tirana issue an emergency passport in defiance of its own regulations and in the face of televised alerts?
- Why did the Metropolitan Police Service not intercept the connecting flight at Heathrow despite real-time notification from counsel?
- To what extent did Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck’s former position influence the handling of his son’s criminal record and the subsequent custody outcome?
- Will the Arkansas court follow the recommendations of Zynlea’s own lawyer and therapist?
A Child Silenced
Zynlea Hollenbeck is now seven. She has had no contact with her primary caregiver of six years beyond the limited FaceTime allowance. The long-term psychological impact of such an abrupt and traumatic separation is well documented in child-welfare literature.
Shannon Tracy issued a short statement last month:
“I returned to the United States voluntarily because I will never stop fighting for my daughter. I hope one day she will understand why I felt like I had to leave to keep her safe—and why I came back.”
The U.S. Embassies in Tirana and London, the Metropolitan Police Service, and the Sebastian County Circuit Court all declined to comment, citing privacy restrictions in cases involving minors.
This investigation continues. Documents, court filings, and further broadcasts will be published as they become available.
Keep up to date by following the court case here – http://arcourts.gov/administration/acap/courtconnect, Case numbers are 66GCR-24-136 and 66GDR-25-146
If you have any further information that is relevant to this case such as Thomas Hollenbecks travel plans please contact us.
Sources: Euronews Albania (14 Aug 2024), Interpol Yellow Notice records (redacted), Arkansas CourtConnect cases 66GCR-24-136 & 66GDR-25-146, 5NEWS Arkansas archival reporting, U.S. Department of State passport issuance guidelines, public social-media chronology by @HaguedMums.
