Patricia Joan O'Byrne.
A young woman's life has been turned upside down, but Toronto police say she knew she might have been abducted and wasn't entirely surprised when police told her that her mother had done so 18 years ago.
The 20-year-old woman has been living under an alias for nearly her whole life. After a custody dispute with the child's father in 1993, her mother, Patricia O'Byrne, left a message saying she was leaving the country with her daughter who was a year old at the time.
Toronto police Det. Sgt. Dean Burks said the young woman began suspecting something was amiss before she was contacted by police.
"She had become aware through her own methods that something was wrong, [that] some things didn't quite line up" he said. "She wasn't shocked by the news."
Police have charged Ms. O'Byrne with child abduction, but are also looking at additional charges for falsifying documents, such as passports and social insurance numbers. The mother and daughter had lived Victoria for several years where they were known as Pamela Whelan, a government public affairs officer, and Thea Whelan, a Victoria High School graduate and honour student.
"We're also following up information on the woman's friends and family members who abetted them over the last 18 years," Det. Sgt. Burks said. "We received information, for example, that they were residing in U.K., but when the local authorities went to the address to check it out, they found out she had fled again days before. We think someone tipped her off."
Ms. O'Byrne was arrested in Victoria and was due in a Toronto court Tuesday afternoon, but her bail hearing was put off until Wednesday. The 53-year-old is being represented by lawyer Eddie Greenspan.
Meanwhile, the young woman's father, Joe Chisholm, said his daughter wants to protect her privacy, and he is hoping for a reunion when she is ready.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story identified the abducted woman. Her name has been removed from this story and she can no longer be named because of a court-ordered ban on her identity.