The story of a former Democratic lawmaker who escaped to Europe with her son to dodge serious fraud charges has taken a new turn, uncovering a murky past filled with romance and financial troubles.

Cody Bellamy, the former partner of Melissa Fireside, aged 44, has come forward to expose her secrets. In doing so, he has made a heartfelt appeal for the return of their nine-year-old son, Benicio.

Fireside, also 44, took Benicio out of his school in Lexington, Oregon, unexpectedly last Wednesday, without obtaining the necessary permission.

She subsequently vanished from the city address she had provided to meet her bail conditions.

In a bold move, the disgraced ex-official crossed the southern border and caught a flight from Mexico to Amsterdam last Thursday, using an Austrian passport.

This dramatic escape occurred just weeks ahead of her scheduled trial, where she was set to face charges of allegedly defrauding $30,000 from her late mother’s boyfriend, who was residing in a senior care home.

Bellamy, a trucker who now lives in Alger, Michigan, told the Daily Mail he was not surprised by the scandal that has engulfed Fireside.

He branded her a ‘user’ with ‘a lot of secrets’ who he fears only wanted him as a ‘sperm donor.’ 

Former Clackamas County Commissioner Melissa Fireside, pictured, has fled the country with her son to avoid an upcoming fraud trial 

Fireside’s ex Cody Bellamy, pictured here with the couple’s son Benicio, has pleaded for her to bring their son back to the United States 

‘I’m terrified that I will never see my son alive again,’ Bellamy said. ‘I feel like I’ve been bereaved. 

‘The first I knew of what happened was when I found out Benicio had been taken out of school last Wednesday. 

‘I don’t think Melissa would ever hurt him. She’s a good mom. But now she realizes people are looking for her – you just don’t know. 

‘Pressure can make people do crazy things.’ 

Bellamy met Fireside online in 2014 and a romance soon blossomed. 

He is an unashamedly pro-MAGA Republican, while Fireside is a very liberal Democrat who was a fan of former President Joe Biden. 

Bellamy said the couple were able to put those differences aside – despite Fireside’s digs at his family’s politics – and were delighted when Benicio arrived in 2016.

‘She did a home birth,’ he said. ‘I was really proud to be there.’

Bellamy, Fireside and Benicio in happier times. Fireside walked out on Bellamy six months after Benicio was born, the heartbroken trucker said

Fireside is pictured after her arrest earlier this year on fraud charges. She’s accused of scamming $30,000 from her mother’s 83 year-old boyfriend, who was in senior care 

But Bellamy says the relationship foundered without warning six months later.

‘She woke up one day and said “I don’t want to be with you anymore.” I pleaded and begged, I offered to attend counseling. It was a bolt from the blue.

‘I just did whatever I could do to fight it. I knew we were having problems but didn’t know she wanted to call it quits.’

Nine years on, Bellamy has a chilling theory about his ex’s behavior.  

‘I almost feel like Melissa just used me as a surrogate,’ he said.

‘She wanted a child desperately. She saw I was a strapping, hardworking man who took care of himself financially and who wasn’t going to be a deadbeat dad.

‘I feel like she used me, to be honest.’ 

Bellamy said that Fireside was flat broke when they got together.

‘She had no credit. She blamed that on a former husband. She was a stay at home mom.’ 

Fireside was flat broke when she met Bellamy – but the hardworking trucker says she used his credit to buy this $900,000 home in Lake Oswego, one of Portland’s ritziest suburbs 

Oregon state lawmaker April Dobson loaned Melissa Fireside $29,000. Fireside is now accused of scamming her mother’s elderly boyfriend out of $30,000 by taking out a loan and credit card in his name 

The hardworking trucker says Fireside used his credit to buy a $900,000 home in Lake Oswego – one of Portland’s ritziest suburbs.

He is puzzled as to how she subsequently became a building contractor, with Fireside reportedly planning on selling a luxury condo around the time of her arrest.

Last year, Fireside borrowed $29,000 from another lawmaker, Oregon State Representative April Dobson, after claiming she was suffering a cash crunch.

She is then accused of taking out a loan and credit card to the tune of $30,000 in the name of her mother’s boyfriend, Arthur W. Petrone. 

Dobson was repaid the money she owed Fireside and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on her part.  

Petrone died in August, with his daughter Lynn Robert’s insisting he was far too vulnerable to be making any such financial decisions. 

Fireside was elected to the powerful position of Clackamas County Commissioner in November 2024 and sworn in mid-January 2025.

She was arrested over the fraud in March, just two months later, and stood down shortly after that when she was charged. 

Despite her own alleged rule breaking, Fireside’s ex Cody Bellamy told the Daily Mail that his ex used the law against him to make obtaining custody of Benicio a living hell. 

Fireside pictured at a meeting of Clackamas County in Oregon. She served as commissioner for just a few months before being arrested on fraud charges. She resigned upon being charged 

Cody Bellamy with his favorite photograph of himself with son Benicio. He fears his ex may have fled with the youngster to the Middle East 

‘Benicio’s mom was very limited on what he could and couldn’t do.

‘She hated guns and wouldn’t let him have any kind of sugar.

‘She made him attend a French-speaking private school  

‘I wanted to take him hunting and fishing – and used to slip him the odd sweet treat.’

After the split, Fireside initially let Bellamy see his son one day a week. 

He was outraged to see Fireside letting Benicio play with guns while eating candy.  

Fireside then sought full custody and filed a restraining order against Bellamy which he says was based on fabricated claims.

Bellamy worked seven days a week to pay the $18,000 in legal bills he ran up to try and gain joint custody.

Melissa Fireside pictured posing for a publicity shot during her successful run for Clackamas County Commissioner. She has since become the most notorious lawmaker in Oregon 

By early 2023, Fireside had broken him, he said.

‘Everything had to be a legal battle. She did whatever she could do to make it as awkward as possible.’ 

Bellamy moved to Michigan for work, met a new partner and is now a father figure to her young daughters.

He has continued to pay child support for Benicio and has always been desperate to be part of his little boy’s life again. 

Astonishingly, social services in Oregon have told him that he must keep on doing do so, even though Fireside and Benicio are now presumed to be somewhere in Europe. 

Bellamy is so devoted to his young son that he says he is happy to pay the cash and be a good father.  

He told the Daily Mail he is unsure how Fireside managed to obtain a European passport.

She is adopted and was disowned by her adoptive family prior to her disappearance, he said, for reasons unknown.

Another photo of Benicio. His father Cody Bellamy says he is happy to continue paying child support for the little boy, even though he has been taken to Europe 

The Austrian travel document gives Fireside the freedom to live and work in any of the European Union’s 27 member nations.

Bellamy says he cannot report his ex for abduction because she has full custody of their son. 

He is terrified that he may never see Benicio again and even fears Fireside may travel to the Middle East in a bid to avoid extradition. 

‘I hope Melissa can overlook her selfish needs,’ Bellamy said. 

‘Even if she does get in trouble I would never keep her from seeing him.

‘I forgive her for what she’s done, but I really hope that she has no plans or intentions of never letting me see my child again.’

Asked what he’d say to Fireside if she reads this interview, Bellamy was unequivocal.  

‘You’ve dug her own grave,’ he said. ‘Don’t make our son a fugitive on the run as well. 

‘Don’t make him feel like he can never see his dad’s family. 

‘Don’t make it look like he has to be on the run for the rest of his life.’

Speaking through tears, Bellamy concluded: ‘And if I never see him again, please make sure he grows up and is a good man.’ 

The Daily Mail has contacted the Oregon Department of Justice for comment.