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MESSAGE TO ANASTASIA
  
The Story
On May 21, 1984, Anastasia (Stacey) Rose Lambropoulos was
taken from her home in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada,
Anastasia was thirteen months old, and has not been seen by
her mother Ms. Joan Groulx since that day. It is believed
that her father Chris Lambropoulos Kidnapped Anastasia and
took her to Greece, his birth country. A warrant for his
arrest has been outstanding since July 7,1984. Ms. Groulx
has full custody of Anastasia, who turned eleven years old
on April 26, 1994. In July, 1993, Mr. Lambropoulos and his
daughter were located in Greece. He had been using the alias
Chris Lambros . Since the case is more than ten years old,
Lambropoulos cannot be extradited back to Canada to face
Charges of kidnapping.
Ms. Groulx has never given up hope of finding her and
efforts have been ongoing for more than ten years to find
her . Yves Rock a song writer, wrote the music and lyrics to
"Message to Anastasia" performed by Extra-Fine, in an
effort to raise awareness of this mother's long struggle for
justice, and in hopes that it will somehow get a message to
Anastasia so that she will know her mother has never given
up hopes of finding her.
The Saga Continues....
In 97 I traveled to Greece with my lawyer, to finally
meet my daughter Anastasia after thirteen years, I could
not possibly be prepared for the outcome. Where do I start, after flying, stopping at
different locations prior to getting to Greece, I kept
myself in a healthy state of mind. Once arriving in
Greece my feelings and thoughts were overwhelming,
the atmosphere of Greece made things feel chaotic. Once
at the hotel, my lawyer and myself had to meet my lawyer
from Greece the following day. The Greek lawyer
explained proceedings prior to the court which left us a week in waiting. We bided our time but never really able
to feel any joy in being there.The time waiting made me
feel confused, anxious and heart broken. At court date my lawyer, a mediator and
myself were waiting to be called into court. The first
person I saw upon entering the court room was Chris. I
started shaking, kept telling myself to remain calm. My
lawyers recognized what was going on and offered me
support. Chris approached me and asked me what I wanted.
My thoughts, my feelings raced through my mind, I
answered him calmly, with a question, reminding him of
his actions.
The judge quickly acknowledged the paper
work and established a meeting the next day with
Anastasia. At that moment my heart leapt and I was
overjoyed knowing that I was finally going to see my
daughter. After the proceedings I met with one of Chris
former lawyers. This lawyer was pleasant, honest and
sincere, and has known Anastasia. He remarked that I was
definitely Anastasia's mother just by looking at me. He
noticed all the qualities of Anastasia were mine. After
these comments he stated that he had advised Chris to
let my daughter and I reunite , but Chris would not
participate.
The next day i got to meet Anastasia but it
was not to my expectations. Instead of just a small
party the court room was full, Chris demanded that no
pictures be taken of Anastasia or i would not get to see
her .This iced the atmosphere. After my lawyers and I
agreed to Chris's terms, Anastasia came in and sat quite
a distance from me. She sat with her ant and uncle and
seemed nervous and confused. At this point Anastasia and
her aunt moved closer. The aunt is Chris's sister who
participated in the kidnapping. At this moment I gave
Anastasia gifts that i had accumulated since her
disappearance and a music video written for her, a
family address book and photo album. Her inability to
communicate with me was a minor thing compared to how
she received me. We shared a bond only a mother and
daughter could share.
Through interpreters, we communicated for
several hours and Anastasia's first and most sincere
question was "why did you not look for me and find
me sooner" I told her " I have never stopped looking for
you and only now I found you" Many other questions and
bits of conversation passed.
As for myself I focused on remaining calm
but was deeply emotional because I was finally with my
daughter.
After the proceedings, I was informed that
I would not see Anastasia again. I was determine that
this was not going to happen. I had a scheduled flight
from Greece and I wanted to see her again before my
departure.
Prior to leaving Greece I managed to get
the aunt's phone number through the disbelief of my
lawyer. I called, Anastasia's aunt answered, I told her
that I was leaving that evening and I would love to se
my daughter before I left not knowing if and when id
ever see her again, she let me talked to Anastasia, she
said she'd love to see me.
Anastasia, her aunt and uncle came to my
hotel and met with my lawyer and myself. Anastasia and I
communicated through her aunt, I gave her my ring and a
few other things as reminders of me. Anastasia was
completely different from the first meeting, she was
happy, relaxed, humorous and a total joy to be with. I
noticed her playing with the ring and there was an
intensity in the way she looked at me and I at her.
She is a beautiful lady, her long brown
hair, green eyes, her height and beautiful smile
captured me. This was the first time and the last time
we touched and held each other. This memory is forever in
my heart, my soul, my thought's and my hopes and dreams.
I love my daughter. I hope we meet again soon.
Anastasia's name was changed to Natasha.
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