9:15pm Sunday 22nd July 2007
THE family of a three-month-old baby who was abducted and taken to Mexico have set up a website to raise awareness of the case.
Samantha Lowry has not seen her baby Sebastian since he was taken from her home in Austin, Texas, eight weeks ago by her estranged partner Daniel Pavon-Cuellar.
Mr Pavon-Cuellar has been classed as an international fugitive after snatching Sebastian and driving for 30 hours to cross the Mexican border. American authorities believe he is currently somewhere in Mexico City.
He sent a threatening email to Samantha a week ago, warning she had six days to drop the warrants for his arrest or she would not see her son.
But the 40-year-old sent a far more menacing message to Samantha on Friday night, saying she had put the couple's son in danger.
He also included a photograph of Sebastian lying on a bed next to a recent edition of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper.
Samantha, who is originally from Bishopstone, was last night waiting anxiously for news about her son.
In the latest email sent to Samantha, Mr Pavon-Cuellar wrote in broken English: "In two days you will prove, that for you, is more important to protect yourself and keep lying, instead of saying the truth and seeing your son.
"What a better way to prove you don't care about Sebastian, you don't love him, simply you have use him to harm me as much as you could and you have placed his life in danger and you don't even care."
The email added: "Two days Sam, and yes, every second counts and you are running out of time."
Speaking from Austin, Samantha confirmed she had received a photograph of Sebastian from Mr Pavon-Cuellar.
She said: "I miss him, and obviously, he's growing, and I've missed all of that.
"For eight weeks we've had no word of him, nobody's seen him, Daniel's refused to do any welfare checks. He's refused to send any photographs until last night. He sent one photograph of Sebastian."
But Samantha says she is not entirely convinced the image is that of her son.
"I don't like to see it," Samantha said of the picture. "I'm not 100 per cent sure it is Sebastian. Of course, I hope it is Sebastian. He's told me every second counts, and that the danger to Sebastian's life is increasing every day.
"I'm not doing anything to increase that danger, and I don't know what Daniel means by that or what that threat is."
Mr Pavon-Cuellar has contacted the Adver and other media outlets defending his criminal actions.
Samantha was breastfeeding Sebastian when he was abducted from her at only eight weeks.
She has appealed to new Foreign Secretary David Miliband to help get her baby back. MP Anne Snelgrove met Foreign and Commonwealth Office Junior Minister Meg Munn on July 10 to urge the UK Government to put pressure on Mexican authorities.
The Lowry family has set up the website, www.babysebastian.org, to place added public pressure on the Mexican Government to help reunite Samantha with Sebastian.
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