Dad pleads with heiress ex-wife to return two sons, 5 & 3, after she fled the country following custody battle

A DAD is pleading with his heiress ex-wife to return their two young sons after she went into hiding on losing a custody battle. Nishika Samaratunga abducted Blaine, five, and three-year-old Nathaniel over five months ago – with desperate Ben Baier now launching High Court proceedings. Ben Baier with his two sons, Nate and Blaine Credit: PA A national manhunt has been launched for Nishika Samaratunga Credit: PA American financier Ben, 43, had flown to Heathrow Airport to collect his two boys in March after they spent a week with their mum in London – but instead was served with a court summons by a lawyer containing “false allegations” of abuse. Following the couple’s divorce, he’d won full custody last October and the children were being raised by him near Denver in the US. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Samaratunga, 34, a British citizen and scion of a Sri Lankan tea dynasty, has been the subject of an international manhunt ever since. Ben is not sure what country his ex and their children are even in. Ben has not seen his two boys, aged three and five, since March Credit: PA Samaratunga had lost custody of the kids before fleeing with them Credit: PA The dad says he is speaking now because he is concerned for the children’s safety – and has no idea if they are attending school or nursery or have proper access to medical care. In court documents published in the US last month, the judge accused Samaratunga of endangering the children’s physical and emotional wellbeing by kidnapping them, reports The Times. The judge said the mum had made “false allegations of every sort of abuse… imaginable” against Ben that were “simply invented for nefarious and bad-faith purposes”. Ben told the newspaper: “I allow myself days just to break down, cry and clean out the gutters. Most read in The Sun “I try not to look at pictures and videos too often because my therapist says that it is almost like emotional cutting.” He says the only reason he knows his sons are still alive is Samaratunga posted a video of Blaine on Sri Lankan news “crying into the camera”. Ben said: “It sounds more like a cry for me than him being distraught. “I have no idea what she’s telling them or what she’s doing to them, mentally or emotionally, or how she’s painting me.” Ben met finance industry head hunter Samaratunga on a yachting holiday around the British Virgin Islands in December 2019. The former model and heiress had also rubbed shoulders with King Charles while he was Prince of Wales. Meanwhile, her uncle Chris Nonis is a former Sri Lankan high commissioner to the UK. A whirlwind romance followed, initially long-distance with Ben in the US and Samaratunga in London. It was accelerated by Covid and Ben briefly moved to the UK before the couple then re-located to Colorado and they married in January 2021. However, following the birth of their sons the relationship deteriorated – and ultimately Samaratunga asked for space in September 2024 so he stayed at a friend’s house. Later that month, she filed for divorce and made a flood of accusations against Ben, including claims of domestic violence and abuse of the children, which he firmly denies. Police later said her allegations did not constitute a crime or child abuse, he claims. For 10 months, Ben was restricted to an hour a week visits with his sons under supervision. However, he was ultimately awarded custody of the children after he says Samaratunga went back to the UK and left the boys with her mum. Ben had not been allowed to receive records of his sons for months due to the allegations but on getting them back he found Blaine had missed huge amounts of schooling and Nate had not started pre-school and neither had been allowed further behavioural therapy for their autism. The Times reports a US court was concerned Samaratunga posed a risk of abduction so an order was made permitting her to have contact with the boys in London – but Ben retained their passports. On court orders, he took the kids to visit their mum in London at Christmas last year for two weeks and then again in March. However, on returning to fly them home on March 29, he was served the court papers. Ben stayed in the UK a month looking for his sons – and instructing lawyers for the hearing in April, though Samaratunga never turned up. Her London flat has since been left empty and Ben fears she is receiving help to remain hidden. Amy Rowe, partner at Hunters Law LLP, representing Mr Baier, said: “The court has rightly recognised the deeply harmful impact of abduction on Blaine and Nathaniel. “These are two very young, vulnerable children and every day that they remain missing increases the concern for their welfare. “It is imperative that they are found and returned home safely as soon as possible.”