Holly Collins had No Way Out But One

by Garland Waller
http://www.nowayoutbutone.com/hollyjen.html

Holly Collins didn’t want to run away. In fact, she put it off until she could not live with herself unless she protected her children. She KNEW these children she so loved were being abused while in the custody of their father. They told her. They told the court supervisors. They told the guardian ad litem. But the Minnesota family court gave the father custody anyway.
“I just thought if you told the truth, you know, you would be believed. I always just told the kids, just tell the truth, so when the court didn’t believe us, I started going through all of our records.
Holly has stacks of records – legal documents, medical reports, as well as pictures the children drew which clearly showed abuse.

No Way Out But One expores how Holly, a battered woman, lost custody of her children is explored in detail. But it’s easy to see how, after a judge gave her ex-husband full custody, Holly would have been desperate.

It is important to acknowledge that kidnapping is crime. And the legal consequences for those convicted of kidnapping charges can be grave indeed. Holly will also be the first to tell you that their life on the run was hard on everyone. And she is aware that in a post-9/11 world of increased airport security, she and her children would never have made it out of the country. But to this day, Holly says her biggest regret was waiting as long as she did to take her children and run. She has other regrets of course. But then, just ask her to tell you about her children – all of them - and her face lights up.