The final episode of the third volume of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries , titled "Kidnapped by My Parents," delves into the different cases of two alleged kidnappers, Ahmed Qandeel and Rabia Khan. Although the circumstances are not identical, both cases involve helpless parents left without answers after their ex-spouse disappears with their children. As police continue to search for new clues, investigators and true-crime enthusiasts alike have floated several theories about where the kidnappers might be hiding.
The season finale first introduced anesthesiologist Rebecca Downey, the mother of Amina and Belel, whom she shares with Candiel. Downey grew up in Berlin and has a Christian background, while Qandeel grew up Muslim in Cairo, Egypt. After ten years of marriage, their differences eventually proved too great and they separated in June 2013. In "Unsolved Mysteries ," Downey described her ex-husband as "moving in a more conservative religious direction" and wanted their children to grow up in a similar environment. belief.
On August 28, 2014, Qandeel picked up Amina and Belair from Downey's home in Virginia and took them on a four-day trip to Toronto to visit colleges with their cousin. She became increasingly concerned when her ex stopped responding to her messages and the children didn't show up for the first day of school on Sept. 2. So she called Qandeel's father in Giza, and although he claimed to know nothing, she took his indifference as a "warning sign" that he "must know something."
Where is Ahmed Qandil?
Downey's friend Daphne Frederic found Qandil's house empty, and later flight records showed they never flew to Canada, but instead landed in Istanbul after a stopover in Kiev. Meanwhile, financial records show that before disappearing, Qandil visited a survival camp in the mountains and learned how to shoot. He also bought camping gear for himself and his children and shipped it overseas. The FBI eventually issued an arrest warrant for Qandil in November 2014 on charges of international kidnapping.
Downey got his first substantial clue the following month when someone reviewed Amina's emails in the southern tip of Turkey, near the Syrian border. Finally, in September 2015, she received an email from Qandil with the subject line "The kids are fine." He went on to explain that they lived on a small farm, adding that he took them abroad before she was granted full custody. Even so, he claimed they could decide for themselves where they wanted to live once they "reached the right age". (As of November 2022, Amina is 19 and Belair is 16.)
Although the email also came from Turkey, Qandil listed his parents' addresses when he applied for an Egyptian ID in 2016, reminding her of her first suspicions. What's more, his father owned a farm somewhere between Alexandria and Cairo, leading investigators to now believe the trio "may be in Egypt." The problem is that kidnapping a parent is not considered a crime in Egypt, so Downey, who hired a private investigator and contacted congressmen and senators, said as a mother she had "no recourse."
Frederick, for his part, has her own theory as to why Downey never heard from the children. In the Netflix series, she said she believed Qandeel either "caused some mishap and told the kids she was dead" or that he simply banned them from the internet altogether.
Where is Rabia Khan?
The second half of the episode shifts the focus to father Abdul Khan, an intensive care unit pulmonologist whose son Aziz has been missing since 2017. Abdul and his wife Rabia decided to separate when their son was 3 years old, and they eventually divorced in 2015. When custody evaluators finally recommended that Abdul be granted primary custody of their son, his ex-husband made abuse allegations, leading to a year-and-a-half investigation during which he was not allowed to see the boy.
Abdul later heard in court that Rabia was married to a college friend named Elliot Bourgeois, with whom she reconnected after their marriage ended. Following the investigation, the Atlanta district attorney ultimately recommended that Abdul be granted "immediate temporary physical and legal custody" of Aziz. Their father-son reunion was scheduled for November 28, 2017, in an Atlanta courtroom, but Rabia never appeared with her son.
Later evidence showed that Rabia and the resigned Bourgeois had asked Aziz to leave the school ten days earlier and that he never returned. The couple also sold their car to Atlanta-based CarMax, turned off their cell phones, closed their bank accounts, closed all their social media accounts, and disappeared.
Two years later, a felony kidnapping warrant was issued for Rabia's kidnapping of Aziz, and U.S. Marshals intervened in the case. In early 2020, investigators attempted to interview Rabia's "avoidant" parents in Duluth, Georgia, but the couple simply referred them to their attorneys. Aside from documentation that the two sold the car in 2017, there are no other credible tips or sightings.
In "Unsolved Mysteries," authorities theorize that the family could adopt new identities, allowing them to build a line of credit and create a whole new life. Another possibility? Someone - whether it's a friend or family member - may provide them with funds so they can live on cash. Aziz will turn 12 on November 13, 2022, and Abdul has not given up hope that his son will be found one day.
