Speaking publicly for the first time since winning custody, Baby
Veronica's adoptive parents promised Tuesday to keep her biological
family a part of her life.
Appearing briefly on national television, Matt and Melanie
Capobianco confirmed that they have stayed in touch with Dusten Brown
and other members of Veronica's Cherokee family.
"It's been positive," Melanie Capobianco said, "and we feel really good about it."
No recent footage of
Veronica was included, but the Capobiancos apparently sat down for the
interview over the weekend at their home in the suburbs of Charleston,
S.C.
"All the people who love her, all of her family members," Melanie Capobianco said, "will be in contact with her."
A short segment on the
"Dr. Phil" show included video shot while the Capobiancos were in
Oklahoma to fight for custody, where the Brown family waged a court
battle for weeks in hope of keeping Veronica.
Riding in the back seat
of an SUV, the Capobiancos drove past the Cherokee Nation headquarters
near Tahlequah, where they spotted Veronica in the yard outside of a VIP
house where the Browns were staying at the time.
Brown said goodbye to
Veronica at that house Sept. 23, when the Oklahoma Supreme Court cleared
the way for the Capobiancos to take her.
But the video of
Veronica, obviously shot from a distance, was apparently taken Aug. 15,
after reality television personality Troy "The Locator" Dunn appeared at
a Tulsa news conference with the Capobiancos.
Dunn tried to approach the house where Veronica was staying, but Cherokee deputies turned him away.
With the Capobiancos
filing a writ of habeas corpus later that day, the incident led to the
first of several court appearances that ultimately sent Veronica back to
South Carolina.
Following the adoptive
parents while they were in Oklahoma, Dunn had offered to be a "neutral"
mediator between the Brown and Capobianco families.
But he was a registered
member of the Coalition for the Protection of Indian Children and
Families, a group founded by the Capobiancos' spokeswoman to lobby for
changes to the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Brown used the law to challenge Veronica's adoption and take custody of her in 2011.
The Capobiancos appealed
the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled this summer
that the law didn't apply to Brown because he didn't have custody of
Veronica at birth.
The Browns and Capobiancos have mutually agreed not to comment anymore to the media, Dunn told the Dr. Phil audience.
Although South Carolina
is no longer seeking Brown's extradition, he still faces a felony
complaint of "custodial interference" for refusing to hand over Veronica
while appealing the case in Oklahoma.
