She contacts a lawyer in Montreal who immediately files a petition for their return under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in the Provincial Court. Within a week, the children are back with Mela. In the not too distant past, Mela's lawyer might only have been able to refer the client to a private investigator and to an attorney located wherever the child was eventually found. To use the Internet effectively, a lawyer needs to know a few basics about the law relevant to child abduction and how to locate relevant sites on the World Wide Web. The extraordinary effort of agencies and individuals in sharing their expertise and services on the Internet has resulted in an incredible array of resources on the World Wide Web.
Any browser can help the lawyer locate the best sites.
Of course, the first thing to do is to find the child. Usually, filing a police report is a good first step. It is important to make sure that the police enter a recent picture of the child in the National Crime Computer and national and international child find organizations. A private investigator may be needed to supplement police and agency efforts. Many private investigators post web pages that give information about their experience and their regional reach.