Mom who kidnapped kids to return to NM

The New Mexico woman who was on the FBI's "Most Wanted List" for years after bolting with her three kids will finally be forced to face a judge in Albuquerque.

This week, the British High Court denied the extradition appeal of Eileen Clark, who is charged with international parental kidnapping. Eileen left her husband, John Clark, and their Sandoval County home in 1995, taking their young children with her. John hadn't seen his kids for fifteen years.

But two years ago, authorities located Eileen and the now grown children in London. British police arrested Eileen, and U.S. federal prosecutors charged her with kidnapping.

Eileen's attorneys claim she left out of self-defense.

"If someone is the victim of domestic violence, they are entitled to do things to protect themselves," said Albuquerque attorney David Foster.

John Clark denies those allegations, claiming he is the real victim.

"Justice, it doesn't move swiftly but it does move," John Clark told News 13 last year at a federal hearing in Albuquerque.

Eileen's attorneys tried last year to get the case dismissed, but the court denied the motion just last month, according to Foster. And with the British High Court's ruling this week, Eileen will be ordered to return to Albuquerque to stand trial.

"We are hoping that she will be able to come back on her own and the government would allow her to come back on her own after so many years," said Foster.

Eileen Clark has been on an ankle monitor in London for the last 20 months, according to Foster. She was initially charged with two lesser crimes, but federal prosecutors in Albuquerque increased the charge to parental kidnapping within the past year.