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was born. it was like responsibility that i suddenly realized had, if you will, bee thrust upon me >> reporter: the fight for savanna turned into an epi battle. a family court showdow that became one of the longest and most contentious tha charleston had ever seen. ther will be mothers everywhere saying shame on him. how can he, you know, try to rip that baby from her arms when she's still nursing. she's built this bond >> i wasn't trying to take her away from her mother. i just felt that i was the more stabl parent >> reporter: at the hearing, harris and others testifie that lee's behavior was erratic, sometimes violent. one psychiatrist testified that le had a mood disorder. according to harris'lawyer, graham sturgis, lee's emotional outbursts were on full display in the courtroom. so much so that the judge had to take action >> as the case wore on, it was clear that her level of anxiet and frustration rose until the
me and ran. so, the first thin that popped into my head, said, "does that mean dad isn' my dad? >> reporter: as far back a savanna could remember, juan geldenhuys had always been b her side. she believed he wa her biological dad, somethin lee kept reinforcing >> mom would relay things, you know? like, you sleep like you dad. or you know, you look lik your dad. so, i've always grow up with that >> reporter: but tragedy struc in 2011, when juan, by the divorced from lee, fell sick with cancer. the man savanna thought was her dad died just week before lee was arrested >> he fought very long and ver hard, but it was inevitable. but i'm happy because the last words i said to him was, " love you", and the same with him. >> reporter: savanna said sh had barely begun to mourn he father's death when the news came that she was someon else's daughter. >> i've never heard harris todd. i've never heard savanna i found out that i was
harris told lee he wanted divorce. he said, lee told him she was pregnant >> everything fell apart whe she told him that she wa pregnant >> reporter: patty said what actually made the marriage g sour was harris'refusal to hav children >> he wanted her to terminat the pregnancy, and that wa just not an option for lee. it broke her heart. >> reporter: lee says that you didn't want her to have th child? >> not at all true. i neve said that. not once. >> reporter: either way, the marriage was over. harris left lee when she was still in he first trimester and le initiated divorce proceedings. when baby savanna was born i may 1993, she asked for full custody. >> i felt at the end of the day, lee would have her child harris would have visitations. >> reporter: but to everyone's surprise, harris counter-sued. you decided you wanted ful custody? >> from my point of view, decided that before the baby
fellow flight attendant and on of lee's best friends. they ha traveled the world, but patt said lee ultimately wanted a conventional life. >> lee and i both wanted marriage. we wanted children we wanted animals. we wanted the picket fence >> reporter: harris though that he could build that lif with lee, but early in their relationship he noticed some problems. he said she wa overly emotional and sometimes quick to anger. still, h thought love would conquer all >> i suffer from the misconception that i can fix things. that i can make things better >> reporter: they married in december 1991. but withi months, harris said, it became apparent that his fixing skill were no match for lee' behavior >> i mean, i never knew what was going to face me when came through the door afte work. and it could be nothing, and it could be nothing bu screaming and yelling an throwing pots. >> reporter: things got so bad
coming back happy, healthy and grounded would have to raise some questions, you know >> reporter: samantha has gone on record as saying she neve saw anything wrong with he mom. she had a lovin childhood. great relationship. it really flies in the face of everything that we heard early on >> well, there's a saying. w don't know who discovered water, but we're certain it wasn't fish. and a lot of times you can be raised in an environmen and not necessarily know wha it was until you happen to get outside of that environment an look back in >> reporter: savanna returne home to a big welcome, as lee' old friends gathered around to see her baby daughter all grow up now. to patty roth, lee's close friend who had hel savanna the minute she was born >> hannah and ivy and laney. >> reporter: and patty's daughters, who would have been her friends. and to charleston
lee was finally arrested >> she didn't appear surprised she was very cordial and she seemed to be very calm. so she expressed a willingness to tal to us. >> reporter: lee also asked if she could make a phone call to savanna. >> coming up -- >> i couldn't fathom what wa going on >> an astonishing moment o truth for savanna. >> the first thing that popped into my head, i said, "doe that mean that my dad isn't my dad" >> and her father. >> i kept thinking i'll get to see her. >> when "dateline" continues.
whose entire life you now are? >> reporter: back in 1994, harris could not imagine tha these wondrous days woul abruptly end. that the next 20 years would turn a father' love into a father's nightmare >> losing you took most of the life out of me. and sometimes feel like i'm already dead and just haven't fallen over yet >> reporter: it all began in charleston, south carolina when harris, a financial advisor, met a beautiful fligh attendant named dorothy le barnett. everyone knew her a lee. >> when she's at her best, she's a very vivacious and attractive and alluring person very lively and interested in lot of things. >> she was very outgoing, very friendly. she lived life to it fullest. >> reporter: patty roth was
they searched the internet and discovered lee's secret. they're real detectives. >> i think so. >> reporter: they figured it out. they tracked you down >> and then, essentially knowing the wrath that the would face if my ex-wife eve found out that they did it they went ahead anyway. they told me, we feel like you have a right to know your daughter. >> reporter: harris gave the couple's information to fb agent ed klimas. and now tha they knew lee's alias, the fbi was finally able to figure out how she had left the u. s. without being detected. she ha set her abduction plan i motion by getting a fake birth certificate about two months before taking savanna. >> dorothy lee barnett goes to become a fictitious person named alexandria maria canton. she went to texas to obtain texas driver's license, then used the information from that to obtain a united state passport. what we learned wa
judge required that a bailif stand behind her chair with hi hands on her shoulder to kee her seated >> reporter: some people might say that she felt maybe that her baby was slipping away fro her. and that any mother might start to lose their mind a little bit in court. >> i think there's truth i that, but it's also indicative of her inability to control he behavior >> reporter: but on lee' behalf, two other psychiatrist testified she had no mental or emotional disorders, and was a perfectly fit parent. and as for her allegedly mani behavior? patty and othe friends testified they had never seen it. >> i saw lee almost every da for a couple years, and i di not see any episodes like that she was full of life. she had lot of energy. absolutely sa no depression. >> reporter: after 2 1/2 weeks of acrimonious testimony, it was up to the judge. harris wa with the toddler when the phon rang