Lesbian custody fight returns to Vt. court despite missing Va. birth mom, 8-year-old daughter

Girl, Va. mom missing from Vt. gay custody fight

MONTPELIER, Vt. — A child custody fight between former lesbian partners is headed back to court in Vermont even though the girl at the heart of it remains missing.

Eight-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins and birth mother Lisa Miller failed to appear for a court-ordered Jan. 1 custody swap in which Miller’s former partner, Janet Jenkins, was to get the girl.

Miller is from Forest, Va. Jenkins is from Fair Haven, Vt.

The girl is listed as missing. A lawyer for Jenkins says Miller and the girl are believed to have flown to El Salvador last September.

On June 23 the Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments from Miller’s attorneys, who say a Family Court judge erred last November in awarding custody to Jenkins.