Years into their attempt to adopt a Cherokee girl, Matt and Melanie Capobianco say they can empathize with any sadness the girl's biological father might be feeling after being ordered to turn her over to them.
More than a year and a half ago, the Charleston-area couple was in a lawyer's office, tearfully handing over Veronica — whom they'd raised since birth — to the father, Dusten Brown, who lives in northeastern Oklahoma.
After the Capobiancos successfully appealed, a South Carolina family court judge approved a transition plan that laid out a gradual process for reintroducing the girl to the Capobiancos.
The court says Brown failed to show up for the first of those scheduled gatherings on Aug. 4. The judge on Monday ordered that 3-year-old Veronica be immediately turned over to the couple.