shannon family present. he will join his infant brother jason on the trip to visit a cousin. eir older half-brother mike shannon recalls just how nervous his father was. >> nobody wanted to say it, but the thought always was in the back of your mind, you know, what are they getting at here? why all of the sudden change? but at the end of the day you kind of want to understand that from a grandmother's standpoint she wants to have some time with her grandson. >> reporter: the shannon family's trust in afaf khalifa was misplaced. thomas fleckenstein, the state's attorney in ann arundel county, maryland says the facts would later reveal adam and jason's grandmother was the co-conspirator of an international kidnapping weeks in the works. >> she came from her home country of egypt. she came here. she participated in the planning of the removal of the children from maryland. she participated in the story that was told to the father as to when the children were going to be in new york, when they would be back. the fact that she was visiting was part of the impetus for the father all

shannon family present. he will join his infant brother jason on the trip to visit a cousin. rother mike shannon recalls just how nervous his father was. >> nobody wanted to say it, but the thought always was in the back of your mind, you know, what are they getting at here? why all of the sudden change? but at the end of the day you kind of want to understand that from a grandmother's standpoint she wants to have some time with family's tru in afaf khalifawas. thomas,he state's attorney in ann arundel county, mary sayshe facts would later reveal adam and jason's grandmother was the co-conspirator of an international kidnapping weeks in the works. >> she came from her home country of egypt. she came here. she participated in the planning of the removal of the children from maryland. she participated in the story that was tol to the father as to when the children were going to be in new york, when they would be back. the fact that she was visiting andnd time we etus for thethero grandmother. and she was actively involved in helping the children travel to egypt. >> it was well p

adam would live with the shannons, jason would live with nirmine. no one was happy. what michael shannon didn't realize was that nirmine and her mother were plotting to change everything. >> i remember when the time came where they had asked, well, would it be okay if her mother was the guardian for watching adam for a weekend. and i remember how ditch cult that decision was. >> august, 2001. nirmine's mother flew from baltimore to visit her daughter. and there was something else. she was asking permission to take her two grandsons and her daughter for a rare weekend trip out of state to new york. to visit a relative. shannon was suspicion, but reluctantly agreed. >> i said to my father, i said, well, there's no way she can take him to egypt. i have full custody. i have full rights. i have their passports locked in the safe. how could she possibly get them out of the country? >> sunday night, the boys weren't back. phone calls went unanswered. >> and then it just becomes let's just go find out what's going on? where are they? [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why d

adam would live with the shannons, jason would live with nirmine. no one was happy. what michael shannon didn't realize was that nirmine and her mother were plotting to change everything. >> i remember when the time came where they had asked, well, would it be okay if her mother was the guardian for watching adam for a weekend. and i remember how ditch cult that decision was. >> august, 2001. nirmine's mother flew from baltimore to visit her daughter. and there was something else. she was asking permission to take her two grandsons and her daughter for a rare weekend trip out of state to new york. to visit a relative. shannon was suspicion, but reluctantly agreed. >> i said to my father, i said, well, there's no way she can take him to egypt. i have full custody. i have full rights. i have their passports locked in the safe. how could she possibly get them out of the country? >> sunday night, the boys weren't back. phone calls went unanswered. >> and then it just becomes let's just go find out what's going on? where are they? [ coughs ] [ angry gibberish ] [ justin ]

shannon knows exactly where his boys are. his ex-wife fled with them to egypt in 2001. adam, his son, was just 4 then. jason was a toddler. sn't seen them since then. they're grown up without him. what his ex-wife did is illegal, criminal and civil courts ruled in shannon's favor but the rulings carry no weight in egypt. this is a kidnapping case caught up in layers of international politics. all this time, the u.s. government has been giving cairo billions of dollars in aid. investigative correspondent drew griffin has been digging into this story. his hour-long report premieres tomorrow night. here's a preview. >> reporter: on august 22nd, 2001, two weeks before the horrors of 9/11, michael shannon sent his two sons off to new york with their mother, for what he thought would be a weekend visit. it would be the last time he saw either one of them. >> they were out of the country before we even knew they were gone. >> reporter: on sunday night, august 26th, when his sons were not back, he drove to his ex-wife's apartment and his life suddenly changed. what was that day like when you pulled up? >> i went to the apartment t

michael shannon held the passports for both of his boys in a safe at home. he had legal custody of adam and jasont allowed to leave maryland without the father's consent. but there was a loophole. early in 2001, one parent could simply call the state department and report a child's passport lost, apply for a new one and it was granted. that is exactly what she had done. the egypt air tickets were purchased in new york by a relative. the family arranged for an international moving company to empty the apartment where she was living. that was nearly 12 years ago. michael shannon has not laid eyes on his sons, not even in a photograph, since 2001. you've seen no photos. >> nothing. the state department won't get any because they say the family won't allow it, it's intrusive. i've asked for welfare and multiple wellness checks, and the embassy writes letters to the family and the family simply refuses them. >> reporter: in a letter from her sister, michael san snon was told to give up. force and bad tactics will only serve to put you farthest away from your objective, she writes. the children need to