A 5-year-old boy missing from Fairfax County for more than a week was found with his mother in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
His mother, Becky Love, is facing a felony charge for parental abduction.
Love and her son, Cameron Serafin, were found in a hotel after after their photos aired on local TV news, police said. Last week, the pair had been spotted at McCarran International Airport, apparently after arriving on a Southwest Airlines flight from Birmingham, Ala.
Shortly before boarding a plane to be reunited with his son, Cameron's father, Joe Serafin, told News4 he is "ecstastic" about the news. "I'm a little bit of a nervous wreck right now," he admitted.
Serafin said he had already spoken to Cameron, who is OK. "I said, 'Hey buddy, this is Daddy.' He was very excited to talk."
Police had issued an arrest warrant Sunday for Rebecca Serafin, who also uses the last name Love. Cameron Serafin should have been returned to his father on April 7.
Instead, authorities say, his mother altered their appearances, dyeing Cameron’s blond hair dark brown, and left her car behind in an Arlington shopping center to avoid detection. The child seat was missing, but what appears to be a passport photo of the boy was found in the vehicle, News4’s Pat Collins reported. That image had showed Cameron's changed hair color.
Love also took $6,100 in cash out of her bank account and then closed the account.
"I know that she needs help," Joe Serafin said Wednesday night. "That's the bottom line. I mean, we've discussed the history of mental illness."
A police spokesperson said the boy's mother failed to comply with the custody arrangement. Cameron would spend one week with his mother at her family home in Great Falls and another week with his father at his home in Vienna, Collins reported.
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Joe Serafin showed News4's Erika Gonzalez a necklace that Cameron made him the last time they'd seen each other. He was still wearing it as he prepared to reunite with his son.
"I've had this actually on me the entire time" he's been gone, Serafin said.
Police had turned to social media as well as broadcast to encourage people to find the pair, using the hashtag #findcameron on Twitter.
