A father posed as a rich American playboy on Facebook to trick his wife into handing over their son after she fled overseas with him.
Sean Felton used the social networking site to carry out his ploy then flew 6,000 miles to Thailand, where his wife had bolted with their three-year-old six months earlier.
The 43-year-old set up a false account, pretending to be a mega-rich Ferrari-owning American, under the alias Matt Young and contacted her via the site.
His duped Thai wife Saowapak - also known as Kim - fell for his attention and accepted him as a Facebook friend.
The plot led to an emotional confrontation and little Jobe being handed back to his dad to take back home to Norton Canes in Cannock, Staffs.
Mr Felton's nightmare ordeal started on March 26 this year when Saowapak 'Kim' Felton, 30, took Jobe to Thailand.
He said: 'I came back from work to our home and she and Jobe weren't there. All her clothes were still at our home and Jobe's - everything looked normal.'
The distraught dad thought he would never see his son again as the snatch happened in England and the Thai police were powerless to act.
'We got in touch with everyone, the Commonwealth Office, the British Embassy, the local MP - everyone was involved but couldn't do anything,' he added.
Mr Felton hired a private investigator to look for his wife and son, who thought he had a lead before finding a boarded up house.
Mr Felton married Saowapak - who is also known as Kim - in 2005, but the marriage soon deteriorated. He posed as rich American playboy Matt Young in order to gain access to her on Facebook
He was on the verge of giving up until one restless night he decided to look for her on Facebook.
After a frantic search, he was surprised to see her listed among a long list of other Saowapaks.
'I typed in Saowapak and looked through the names, she had a different surname, but it was her.
'I just couldn't sleep that night and so I set a false account up, found a pic on Google and requested to be friends', Mr Felton said.
Once he had access to her profile, he launched a parallel plan to make contact with some of Saowapak's Facebook friends he had seen in a photograph with her.
He requested to be friends with two French men, who he hoped would provide him with the information he desperately needed.
To Mr Felton's relief, the men emailed him back with his wife's address at a remote village in Chiang Rai.
The self-employed painter and decorator then hired a special solicitor who went with him to the High Court to get legal custody.
Mr Felton won full custody of his son but was anxious this would stand for nothing when he arrived in Thailand.
On arrival in the country, his journey took a new and unusual path when he befriended some anti-government protesters.
'I ended up chatting to some 'red shirts' and decided to tell them the story. They then helped me get all the legal documents I needed in Thailand.'
Police drove him to the remote village and that was when Mr Felton laid eyes on the 'hut on stilts'.
He said: 'I went up the steps and I opened the door to the room and he was just there in the room on his own sitting by a wall, and then it all went a bit emotional.
'Jobe had had all his hair cut off and had chipped teeth, but was otherwise a healthy young boy.'
His parents travelled to a hotel where Kim spent some time with her son as she began to accept he would be returning to England with his dad.
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