Stripped of Passport While Taking Daughter To Visit Ex-Husband, U.S. Woman Is Trapped in Brazil

A Massachusetts mother who says she's trapped in Brazil while her ex-husband seeks custody of their daughter fears she could be thrown in prison after she forfeited her passport to authorities.

Shauna Hadden, 33, of Agawam, Mass., took daughter Ava, 6, to Brazil May 21 to visit the girl's father, Donizete Machado, whom Hadden divorced in 2009. When the mother and daughter arrived, Hadden says, her ex-husband went to court to get custody of Ava.

Although he was denied custody, a Brazilian judge ordered Ava's passport confiscated, Hadden said, adding that she surrendered hers as well when police came to her door.

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