Emily Cablek shares story of children's abduction, domestic violence in new memoir

A Winnipeg mother whose children were abducted and taken to Mexico nine years ago has published a memoir that she hopes will help others who have gone through trauma.

Emily Cablek's book, Holding onto Hope, details the nightmare of having her two young children abducted by her former partner, Kevin Maryk, the abusive relationship that preceded the abduction, and her troubled youth as a teen runaway.

"I think through all of it, I wanted something different for my life. I wanted something better. And holding onto that was a huge thing for me," she said of the book's title.

"And then getting my kids back sometimes you think that that's not going to happen. I'm very lucky."

Cablek's two young children, Abby and Dominic, were taken by her former partner Kevin Maryk in August 2008 while on a court-approved visit with their father.

Maryk never returned the children to Cablek, who had legal custody.

The children were found in a townhouse complex in Guadalajara, Mexico in May 2012, and were brought back to Cablek in Winnipeg.

Maryk was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for abducting the children.

In 2016, Maryk also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting Cablek between Jan.1, 2002 and May, 30, 2006 before he abducted his kids.

Since then, Cablek has spoken about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her former partner. She says writing the memoir, was therapeutic, but sometimes difficult.

"It brought back things that I had long forgotten, and when I was writing, I was like, 'Man I wish I could forget that,'" she said.

She says Dominic, now 17 and Abby, 16,are doing "amazing."

"They're my life, and they're great," she said.

By sharing her story, Cablek says, she hopes she can help others overcome whatever difficulties they have in their lives to achieve their dreams.

"People have stories, and sometimes they're not very nice ones. But it doesn't mean they can't overcome them, it doesn't mean that they can't have everything they've always wanted," she said.

"I always say, even to my kids, don't just dream, dream big."

The book launch for Holding onto Hope will take place Wednesday starting at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Grant Park.

Emily Cablek shares story of children's abduction in Holding onto Hope

6 years ago

Duration 5:37

A Winnipeg mother whose children were abducted and taken to Mexico nine years ago has published a memoir that she hopes will help others who have gone through trauma.