Unusual custody battle at impasse
Unusual custody battle at impasse
By MARVIN BAKER
EDITOR
A New Town family involved in a custody quagmire is hoping public attention brings an end to a bitter dispute that has been going on more than eight months.
Ferlin Knight, along with his parents Arlie and Mary Ellen Knight, are concerned about his 9-month-old daughter Abaada and rightful custody of the child.
The child’s mother, De Ann Birds Bill, a student at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, currently has the baby, but according to Ferlin’s attorney El Marie Conklin, Arlie and Mary Ellen, the paternal grandparents, are the legal guardians of Abaada.
Conklin said that in a Feb. 9 hearing in front of judge Peter Furuseth, the Knights were granted custody with Birds Bill given weekend visitation rights.
Several days later, Birds Bill picked up her daughter and three weeks later, still hasn’t returned her, according to the Knights.
Despite that, apparently there haven’t been any ramifications against Birds Bill for violating that custody agreement, according to Conklin.
