British-Sri Lankan Mother Missing With Two Young Sons as Father Launches High Court Battle for Their Return.
By: Giselle Gunewardene
A British-Sri Lankan mother and her two young sons have been missing in the UK for more than three months after she allegedly failed to return the children to their American father following a court ordered visit.
Nishika Samaratunga, 34, has not been seen publicly with her sons, five-year-old Blaine Baier and three-year-old Nathaniel Baier, known as Nate, since March. The disappearance has prompted their father, Ben Baier, 43, to launch proceedings in the High Court in London as he seeks to locate his children and secure their return to the United States. The case has become an increasingly urgent international custody dispute, involving courts on both sides of the Atlantic and raising serious concerns about the welfare of two very young children.
Blaine and Nate were both born in the United States and had been living with their father near Denver, Colorado. Their mother is British-Sri Lankan and is the daughter of Nirmali Samarathunga and had previously lived in America after the couple married in 2020. Following the breakdown of their marriage in 2024, a dispute developed over where the children should live. According to court details reported in the media, Samaratunga applied to a court in Colorado in August 2025 for permission to relocate permanently to London with the boys. That request was refused. She subsequently returned to Britain and made further attempts to relocate the children. In October, a Colorado court ruled that Ben Baier should become the boys’ primary custodial parent and that the children should remain in Colorado.
However, the court also made arrangements allowing the children to maintain contact with their mother in England. Ben Baier was ordered to bring his sons to the UK so that they could spend time with her. The first visit, which took place between December and January, reportedly concluded without incident. A second visit was arranged for March. It was at the end of this visit that the situation changed dramatically.
Nishika Samaratunga was expected to return Blaine and Nate to their father at a UK airport on the 29th of March so they could travel back to their home in the United States. According to the reports, she failed to do so. Since then, the whereabouts of the mother and the two children have remained unknown. The case has now reached the High Court in London, where proceedings have been launched in an attempt to locate the boys and secure their return. The court has permitted details of the case to be made public in the hope that greater awareness could help authorities and the children’s father find them.
Efforts to trace Nishika Samaratunga have reportedly included disclosure orders involving a number of major organisations, including banks, a utility provider and the NHS. Despite those measures, no information publicly revealing her current whereabouts has emerged.
For Ben Baier, the months since his sons disappeared have been marked by uncertainty and growing concern. He has spoken publicly about the emotional impact of being separated from his children and has appealed directly for their safe return. He said that while the collapse of his marriage had been extremely difficult, he had never expected the situation to result in his children being removed from their established home and concealed from him. At the centre of his concerns is the welfare of Blaine and Nate.
Both boys have autism, according to their father, and he has stressed the importance of routine and stability in their everyday lives.
Their sudden removal from their home, familiar surroundings and established support network has therefore caused particular concern. Lawyers acting for Ben Baier have also raised questions about whether the children are currently receiving the education and medical support they need. The boys do not appear to be attending school or nursery, according to concerns presented by their father’s legal representatives. There are also fears that they may not be receiving appropriate medical care. These concerns have added urgency to efforts to locate them.
In April, a judge in Colorado authorised American law enforcement officers to take the children into protective custody if they were found. According to reports of the proceedings, the judge cited what was described as a credible risk that the children were in imminent danger. The Colorado court also concluded that there had been activity indicating a planned abduction and that the children’s court ordered return had been prevented. These findings have intensified the legal effort to establish the whereabouts of the family and bring the children back into the protection of the relevant authorities.
The case also highlights the extraordinary complexity that can arise when parental disputes cross international borders. When separated parents live in different countries, decisions about where children should reside and how they maintain relationships with both parents can involve multiple courts and legal systems. Court ordered international visits rely heavily on both parents complying with the terms of custody and contact arrangements. When a child is not returned as required, the consequences can quickly become both legally and emotionally devastating.
In this case, the children had travelled from their home in Colorado to England under arrangements intended to allow them to spend time with their mother. Instead, their disappearance has triggered legal action in Britain and the United States. The High Court’s decision to allow details of the case to be made public reflects the growing concern surrounding the boys’ whereabouts. Publicity in family court proceedings involving children is often carefully controlled, particularly because of the need to protect their privacy. In this instance, however, making information available publicly is intended to assist efforts to find them.
Amy Rowe, a partner at Hunters Law, which represents Ben Baier, has described Blaine and Nate as young and vulnerable children and stressed the urgency of locating them. She said that every day the children remain missing increases concern about their welfare and that it is essential they are found and returned home safely as soon as possible. For their father, the legal proceedings are ultimately about being reunited with his sons and restoring some sense of normality to their lives. He has appealed to Nishika Samaratunga to return the children and has asked anyone who may know where they are to come forward. His message has focused particularly on the impact the upheaval could be having on the boys.
For children with autism, predictable routines and familiar environments can be especially important. Baier fears that the abrupt disruption to his sons’ lives could affect both their development and wellbeing. The circumstances in which Nishika Samaratunga and the children have been living since March remain unclear publicly. Their precise location is unknown, and the High Court proceedings and efforts to trace them are continuing.
As the search enters another month, the case remains a deeply distressing story of a family divided across two countries and two legal systems. What began as a court ordered visit intended to preserve a relationship between two young boys and their mother has instead developed into an international search involving lawyers, courts and authorities.
At its heart are Blaine and Nate, two children aged just five and three whose welfare is now the central concern of proceedings thousands of miles apart. Their father continues to wait for news. His hope is that public awareness of the case will lead someone with information to come forward and help locate his sons. Until then, questions remain about where the boys are, how they are living and when they might be reunited with the life they left behind in Colorado.
For Ben Baier, the appeal is simple. He wants his children found and returned safely. As legal efforts continue in the UK and the United States, the focus remains firmly on locating Blaine and Nate and ensuring their immediate welfare. Anyone with credible information about the family’s whereabouts has been urged to contact the appropriate authorities or the legal representatives involved in the case. The search continues, with a father hoping that after more than three months of uncertainty, his two young sons will finally be found and brought home.
