A British mother accused of abducting her two young sons from their American father and remaining out of sight for more than three months is an heiress linked to a prominent tea company dynasty.
Nishika Samaratunga, 34, a British citizen originally from Sri Lanka, is believed to be in the UK. She is alleged to be concealing the whereabouts of five-year-old Blaine Baier and his three-year-old brother Nathaniel Baier, known as Nate.
The children were born in the United States and had been living in the care of their father, Ben Baier, who is based near Denver, Colorado.
Blaine and Nathaniel travelled to Britain in March to spend time with their mother under a court-ordered arrangement following the couple’s divorce. However, Ms Samaratunga did not hand the boys back to Mr Baier at a UK airport on March 29 as required.
Ms Samaratunga is the great-granddaughter of Sri Lankan businessman Noel Servulus Oswald Mendis, widely known as NSO Mendis. In 1956, he bought the Ceylon tea producer Mackwoods, becoming the first Sri Lankan to acquire a British plantation company.
The Mackwoods conglomerate, which has since expanded into sectors including healthcare, energy, information technology and tourism, remains in family hands.
On her LinkedIn profile, Ms Samaratunga lists herself as a director at Mackwoods.
Mr Baier, 43, has launched proceedings in the High Court in an effort to secure the return of his sons.
His lawyers have raised concerns that the two boys do not appear to be attending school or nursery and are not receiving medical care.
Nishika Samaratunga, a 34-year-old British citizen originally from Sri Lanka, is believed to have kidnapped her two ‘vulnerable’ children and has not been seen with them since March
‘Both our children have autism, and such abrupt changes to their routine are incredibly damaging to their development and health,’ Mr Baier said
Five-year-old Blaine Baier and three-year-old Nathaniel Baier, known as Nate, were born in America and were being cared for by their father, Ben Baier, who lives near Denver, Colorado
Ms Samaratunga is a tea company heiress and recruitment consultant for financial services
A US judge is concerned they are ‘vulnerable’ and ‘in imminent danger’.
Mr Baier said: ‘The collapse of my marriage has been an incredibly trying time, but I never believed that Nishika would abduct Blaine and Nathaniel and then conceal their whereabouts in an effort to keep them from me, uprooting them from their home in Colorado.
‘Both our children have autism, and such abrupt changes to their routine are incredibly damaging to their development and health.
‘I’m calling for her to do the right thing and return them to me so they can return to their life as normal, and for anyone who knows where they are to help return them to their home.
‘I can only pray for their safe return.’
The High Court has allowed the publication of the family’s names and pictures to help locate the children in a special dispensation.
The former couple married in 2020, and Ms Samaratunga moved to the US, but their relationship broke down in 2024.
The mother then applied to a Colorado court to relocate the children to London in August last year, but returned to the UK the following month after this was refused.
She made further requests to relocate the children, but a Colorado court ordered in October that Mr Baier become their sons’ primary custodial parent.
While the US-based court ordered the children must remain in the state, it also ordered Mr Baier to take the children to England on regular visits so they could spend time with Ms Samaratunga.
The first visit took place between December and January.
But when Mr Baier went to the airport to take his sons back to the US following the second visit in March, Ms Samaratunga failed to return them, in breach of the order of the Colorado court.
The High Court in London has since issued orders against several companies to trace Ms Samaratunga, including JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Thames Water and the NHS, but no information has become available as to her whereabouts.
A judge in Colorado also authorised American law enforcement to take custody of the children in April, citing a ‘credible risk that the children are in imminent danger’.
They added that Ms Samaratunga had ‘engaged in activities indicating a planned abduction’ and had ‘unilaterally prevented the children’s court-ordered return’.
A US judge is concerned ‘the children are in imminent danger’ after being missing for three months
Ms Samaratunga holding their son Blaine as a baby
This meant the children were ‘presently physically and emotionally endangered’.
Ms Samaratunga grew up in Colombo, Sri Lanka and studied law at University College London, before completing a master’s degree in management at Durham University.
During her teenage years she designed clothes under the fashion label ‘Nishi’.
She went on to build a career in recruitment advising private equity firms and global hedge funds on talent acquisition, before co-founding Baier Associates, a London-based global executive search and consulting firm, in 2020.
The company was acquired by executive search and recruitment firm Jensen Partners last October, with Ms Samaratunga listed as a managing director.
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.’
Anyone with information concerning Ms Samaratunga and the boys’ whereabouts can contact Amy Rowe or Safina Mitha at Hunters Law confidentially.
