Chad Hower had custody of his son for many years when he was suddenly arrested while traveling to a conference in Bulgaria. On Nov. 6, 2006, Hower was charged with the kidnapping of his son by the U.S. government. However, he claims that at this time, neither he nor his son were in the U.S.

According to Hower, the last time he was in the country was in June of 2006, where he stayed for a week. He had custody of his son and the pair had been living in Europe. Three years later, after traveling to Bulgaria to speak at a conference, four Bulgarian police officers arrested him because of an Interpol Red Notice: a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action, sent out for the kidnapping of his son. Although Hower’s ex-wife pressed charges on him, he claims the FBI took the case far beyond what it would’ve come to without their involvement. Hower’s wife pressed kidnapping charges following months of Hower living outside the country with his son, and he claims that a judge made conflicting claims about whether this was allowed. Hower claims that the same judge who had sent his son to Europe to meet him sent out kidnapping charges against him weeks later. 

Hower even said his “ex-wife was used as a pawn by the FBI” to get to him, saying these claims wouldn’t hold up without being given special attention.  

The official reason for the kidnapping charges is that Hower’s ex-wife thought their son was missing, but Hower claims that he had full custody of their son at the time. As for why they separated in the first place or why Hower received full custody, this information was unavailable.  

After spending three months in prison, he was released. Bulgarian authorities recognized the charges were baseless, as the documents provided by Interpol were determined to be nonsensical and untrue after being compared to other court documents. 

When asked why he believes he was charged unjustly with kidnapping, he said, “the U.S. government wanted me to spy for them. I married a Russian citizen whose parents had access to old Soviet weapons information, and I believe that’s why they targeted me.” 

Hower had been living in Russia since 2001 and claims he was at a site that formerly hosted a weapons manufacturing factory and was closed to foreigners. He believed the FBI wanted information about the manufacturing company from him.

Hower also claimed to be targeted by the FBI on other occasions. While Hower worked in the Middle East and Africa around 2004-2006, he claims he was already being targeted by U.S. government agencies and their foreign allies to spy on his Russian wife’s family and try to get them to give him information. 

During the time his son was reported as kidnapped, his son made an appearance on US News in great shape, claiming he was safe and in the hands of his father. 

After being released from this roach-ridden rendezvous, the now fugitive and his son went to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, where he started to experience serious health problems, including kidney pain. He was unable to access an MRI machine or a doctor experienced enough to help him with his health problems, which hadn’t yet been fully diagnosed. Hower had asked the U.S. to allow him into the country to be treated, but was refused entrance into the country because he would only be allowed in if he was in custody of the authorities.

He decided to seek asylum in Russia to pursue better medical treatment, as Russian healthcare accommodated his needs. Also, they do not have an extradition treaty, which allows the transfer of accused persons to travel from one country to another without standing trial, with the United States.

Since applying for asylum, he now lives in Russia as the first American since Edward Snowden, a whistleblower from the U.S. who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency in 2013 while he was an employee.

Now, after years of being stuck in St. Kitts, Bulgarian prison, he is safe. Hower now posts on TikTok regularly and has used his online influence to get his son taken off of the Missing Persons list. He is still trying to have his Interpol Red Notice taken down, and he is waiting for the world to respond to his claims.