In re Custody of Jennifer Lynn Ross

[291 Or Page 265] This case involves the abduction and subsequent concealment of a child by her father in anticipation of pending divorce proceedings in Montana, in order to obtain de facto custody and exclude the mother from any custody. When the present custody action was commenced in May, 1979, the child was a little over three years of age; at the time of her abduction by her father, she was 19 months old. The case squarely presents the problem of determining the jurisdictional limitations that ORS 109.840 -- section 14 of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (The UCCJA, or, herein, the ""Act"") -- imposes on a forum state in applying the provisions of the Act where modification of a custody decree from another state is involved.