![\"Rodger](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/Rodger-Cotting-College-Guam-age-19-small-crop-600.png\")
Guam College, Age 19<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Majuro Customs Desk, March 16, 1978<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho are you?\u201d Goodenow asked, turning to address the big man with the outsized voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m the head American Consul in Majuro,\u201d the man answered, his voice aggressive, rough, not to be trifled with. \u201cRodger Cotting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goodenow showed Rodger Cotting the requisite court order from High Court Judge Robert A. Hefner in Saipan, hoping to placate the man. Cotting snatched it. Scoured it. Scanned the first page, turned quickly to the second. In the stilted language of the courtroom, the document read, \u201cThat Steve D. Goodenow of Honolulu, Hawaii, the petitioner herein, is hereby appointed as temporary custodian for the minor, Neil (Scotty) P. Mackay, until he has returned the child to Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you know where Scotty Mackay is,\u201d Goodenow asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, he\u2019s not here anymore,\u201d Cotting replied. \u201cHe went out on Air Nauru.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Thus is was that, early on, Rodger Cotting showed he not only knew of the stakes concerning Scotty Mackay, but was aware of active efforts to secret him out of Majuro. How do we know? For one, even as Ramon Villagomez dutifully filed Judge Hefner’s Order<\/a> with the Majuro Court, Mackay attorney George Allen was stalling, in a rush to file contravening orders with Judge Kabua Kabua. Orders that the local judge ultimately approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes<\/em>, the judge ruled: Custody of Scotty Mackay belonged with Marie Cotting. This poor child is “abandoned.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n An orphan? Really? Scotty had a chorus line of folks ready to care for him (especially in Alaska). This was a ruse concocted by Scotty’s father. One aided and abetted by the haphazard translation of the court proceedings, conducted almost entirely in Marshallese. Behind the scenes, things were moving quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n Almost at once, the prevailing party moved to get Scotty off Majuro and on to Likiep. Oh, and by the way, it was NOT by way of Air Nauru. That airline didn’t land on Likiep. Here’s a passage from Ramon Villagomez’ Affidavit to the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands, filed 11 April 1978. It confirms the flim flam<\/em> practiced in Majuro. And only looks worse<\/em> in the aftermath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodger Cotting, on the other hand, adamantly defended his part in the charade. One could hardly blame him: it seemed as if his entire reputation — and his government career — was on the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MICRONESIAN INDEPENDENT<\/strong>, Majuro, Marshall Islands, Volume 9, No. 11, Friday, June 16, 1978<\/em> Secondly, the charges which were brought were CIVIL and not criminal as you seem to indicate by referring to those involved as \u201carch criminals\u201d of Majuro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third, your article on May 26 indicates that defendants were ignoring or playing with a High Court order when in fact the defendants had been exonerated of those charges by a court of law on May 13, thirteen days earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, the so called \u201ccriminals of Majuro\u201d are not as relieved as you would like to think. They were advised that they have a just cause and an iron clad [sic] case with which they should seek retribution by suing in court. How would you feel if your rights were violated by having a private citizen, who happens to be the local sheriff who is on official leave helping his lawyer cousin, obtain a search warrant illegally and have the police break into your house and leave it unsecured on a charge which is equivalent to a speeding ticket? You should not assume that any person in his right mind would feel \u201cmuch relieved\u201d by such an invasion of privacy and basic civil rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try again, Editor. Honolulu Advertiser, March 22, 1978<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Janice Wolf, Advertiser Staff Writer<\/em> “Meanwhile, Goodenow said, the lower court rescinded its order. So Goodenow flew to Kwajalein to pick up Scotty and continue on to Honolulu. Also on the flight: Mackay\u2019s attorney, Michael Weight, and a family friend, Jean Sullivan, who had been sent by the Honolulu court to accompany Scotty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “After bucking yet another series of legal problems on the island of Ponape in the Carolinas, the group arrived here at 6:45 a.m. yesterday. Scotty, wearing blue bathing trunks and a print aloha shirt, pitched pennies in the Judiciary Building corridor and chatted happily with passers-by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Earlier, there was a brief reunion with the father, who has been kept under guard at his Ilikai condominium. There was also a visit to Kuakini Hospital, where a pediatrician found Scotty in good enough health to continue the trip to Alaska. Alfred and Carolina Willis, Scotty\u2019s uncle and aunt, were expected to meet him with warm clothing upon his arrival.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n My latest book is available at Amazon<\/a>, Barnes & Noble<\/a> and other fine bookstores (paperback and ebook).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Copyright Leland E. Hale (2026<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No End to the Maelstrom At least one thing bothers me in the aftermath of Scotty’s apparent kidnapping: Evidence that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,145,153,152,130,131,151,143,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaska-true-crime","category-leland-e-hale","category-majuro","category-marshall-islands","category-muriel-pfeil","category-neil-mackay","category-rodger-cotting","category-scotty-mackay","category-true-crime-author"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Scotty is an infant... who is in need of care and supervision... that Petitioner [Marie Cotting], a person known to the Court...and the mother of four children, is a fit and proper person to serve as guardian and to have the care, custody and control of Scotty, pending further order of Court; that but for appointment of Petitioner as Guardian, Scotty would be an orphan without adequate protection or supervision.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
![\"aftermath\"\/](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/likiep-aerial-pontoon-1950.png\")
(Courtesy UManoa-Hawaii Pacific Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nGeorge Allen informed the Affiant [Ramon Villagomez] that there was no need to be in a hurry or to worry about any delay in the matter because the child was on Majuro Island and that the child would not leave the island because there was no means for him to leave either by air or by sea transportation. At the time of the making of such statement, it was approximately 2:00 p.m., at which time the boy had already left Majuro upon the Grumman Goose Seaplane on his way to Likiep. Ramon Villagomez<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n
![\"aftermath\"\/](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/grumman-goose-w-ship.jpg\")
On Saturday, at about 5:00 o'clock we decided that we would attempt to contact the Truk Islander, a tramp steamer that was operating in the area of Likiep. To our amazement, the Truk Islander was indeed at Likiep and aboard was a detective, one of Felix Cabrera's best men. By radio, we requested the detective to go on to Likiep, and pick up Scotty Mackay should he be there. Within a half hour, we received a message that Scotty Mackay had been picked up and that he was on his way back to the Island of Ebei which is located just off Kwajalein and a short taxi boat ride away. Steve Goodenow<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n
![\"aftermath\"](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/likiep-atoll-general-view-500px.png\")
(Courtesy UManoa-Hawaii)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAn Alternative Take: Thanks, Rodger<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dear Editor
Your article of May 21, 1978 entitled “The Case Was Simply Dropped”, does not even bear an accurate title, let alone text. In actual fact, on May 13, 1978, Chief Justice Harold Burnett, in official session, dismissed the case of contempt of court with prejudice. Charges were not \u201cdropped\u201d mysteriously as you seem to imply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\/s\/Rodger Cotting (Mr. Cotting is the U.S. Consul in Majuro.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"aftermath\"](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/child-snatching-stopped-in-Micro-Pacific-Daily-News-march-24-1978-Saipan.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nNot Over Yet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here’s Scotty but wherever does it end?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough the efforts of Police Chief Felix Cabrera of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Goodenow said, a police detective traveled to Likiep by tramp steamer, picked Scotty up and traveled with him by steamer to the small island of Ebeye \u2013 a stone\u2019s throw from Kwajalein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/images\/main-street-ebeye-edit.png\")
The Book: Kill Brother, Kill Sister<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n