Isaac John Savoie was an 8-year-old boy last seen on August 11, 2009, in Franklin, Tennessee, in a case that began as a family abduction and quickly became part of a much larger international custody dispute. At the time he disappeared, Isaac was described as a biracial Asian and White child of Japanese descent, with black hair and brown eyes, standing about 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighing around 85 pounds. He disappeared with his younger sister, Rebecca May Savoie, who was 6 years old. Their cases were tied to their non-custodial mother, Noriko Esaki Savoie, who authorities said took the children in violation of the custody arrangement that was in place in Tennessee. A felony warrant for parental kidnapping was issued for Noriko shortly after the children disappeared.
Before Isaac and Rebecca vanished from Franklin, their family history had already crossed two countries. Their father, Christopher J. Savoie, was an American citizen who had also obtained Japanese citizenship, and the family had lived in Japan before the parents separated. After the separation, Christopher returned to the United States, and Noriko also came to Tennessee, though the parents did not continue living together. They divorced in the United States, but according to case summaries, they remained legally married under Japanese law. A custody agreement was eventually reached that kept the children's residence in Tennessee, allowed both parents a role in their lives, and permitted Noriko to take Isaac and Rebecca to Japan for a limited summer visit each year.
According to the reported case history, concerns arose after Noriko began indicating that she wanted to return to Japan with the children. Christopher sought court intervention to prevent the children from being taken out of the country permanently, but the court allowed the summer trip after Noriko reportedly promised she would bring Isaac and Rebecca back to Tennessee as required. She did return with them, but while in Japan she had allegedly enrolled the children in Japanese schools and made preparations suggesting a permanent move. After coming back to the United States, she reportedly shipped belongings overseas and transferred money from American accounts into Japanese ones. When the 2009 school year began in Tennessee, Christopher learned that Isaac and Rebecca had not started school there, and it became clear that they had been taken from the country.
The case drew international attention because it involved the limits of U.S. custody orders when children are taken overseas. After Noriko left with the children, Christopher was granted sole custody in Tennessee, but the order could not be enforced while Isaac, Rebecca, and Noriko were outside the United States. In late September 2009, Christopher traveled to Japan and attempted to bring the children back himself after encountering them in Yanagawa. Reports state that he took them toward the United States consulate, but Japanese police arrested him when he arrived, and he spent 17 days in custody before being released and returning to the United States. After that, public case summaries reported that he had not had contact with his children and that, although their whereabouts were believed to be known, Isaac and Rebecca were still considered missing because they were not with their custodial father.
The investigating agency has reported that Isaac has been found alive, though the exact date and specific circumstances of that resolution are not publicly detailed in the available online case information reviewed. Because of that, the case is no longer an active missing-person matter in the same sense as it was when Isaac first disappeared from Franklin. At its center, this was the story of an 8-year-old boy taken with his younger sister during a deeply painful custody conflict that crossed national borders, complicated law enforcement efforts, and left a family divided between two countries. The public record describes Isaac's disappearance as a family abduction from Tennessee, the issuance of a parental kidnapping warrant, the later international attention surrounding the case, and finally the reported resolution that Isaac was found alive.
Last Seen: Aug 11, 2009
