No Charges For Mother of Teen With Cancer

May 25, 2009 — -- A 13-year-old boy with cancer who fled the state with his mother toavoid court-ordered chemotherapy has returned, Minnesota officials said today.

The arrest warrant issued for Daniel Hauser's mother Colleen while they were on the run have been quashed, Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann said at a press conference, but he would not discuss whether she might still face any charges.

On Sunday, Jennifer Keller, an attorney from Irvine, Calif., contacted the New Ulm Sheriff's Department to let them know that Colleen and Daniel Hauser were ready to return to Minnesota.

"They were ready to come home," Hoffman said, when asked why the mother and son had decided to end their flight. He declined to say where the two had been in the six days they were missing.

Daniel was immediately checked over by medical authorities upon his return today, Hoffman said, but he wouldn't comment on the boy's medical condition.

A federal arrest warrant had been issued for Colleen Hauser after she and Daniel left Minnesota May 19. The search for the pair had focused on Southern California, where they were reportedly spotted at least once, and Mexico, where it was suspected they might have gone to seek alternative treatments.

Doctors say Daniel has a cancerous tumor growing in his chest that is likely to kill him if he does not receive additional chemotherapy, but his family has said they prefer natural healing methods.

The U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI filed federal criminal charges Friday against Colleen Janet Hauser for fleeing with her son Daniel to avoid giving him chemotherapy for his cancer.

The federal criminal complaint noted that Hauser and her son flew on Sun Country Airlines from Minnesota to Los Angeles on May 19. The felony charge of fleeing from the state of Minnesota to avoid prosecution for deprivation of parental rights has been quashed.

The case became an international manhunt with Interpol being notified and U.S. Marshals being deployed to Mexico from the San Diego Field Office and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

According to one source, the marshals and Mexican law enforcement officers were in Tijuana looking for Hauser and her son before their return to Minnesota.

Anthony Hauser, the father of the Minnesota teenager, had made a desperate plea for his son to return with his mother for court-ordered cancer chemotherapy treatment .

Standing at his Sleepy Eye, Minn., farm, Anthony Hauser last week had pleaded with his wife to come home "so we can decide as a family what Danny's treatment should be."

Did Mom Flee Out of Fear?

Authorities had said they believed Hauser and Daniel, were in Mexico -- or trying to get there -- to seek alternative treatments for the teen who suffers from Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Hauser has said that he believes his wife saw X-rays of Daniel that made her scared and prompted her to flee.

"I know you're scared and I feel that you left out of fear, maybe without thinking it all the way through," Hauser said.

Authorities had promised Colleen Hauser in a May 21 press conference that they would not take law enforcement action if she showed "a good faith effort" to come back.

Colleen and Daniel Hauser were spotted in Southern California Tuesday morning, according to the Brown County Sheriff's office, who said it was "reliable information" that has led them to believe the duo headed to Mexico to seek alternative cancer treatment.

The two had disappeared after a court rejected the boy's request to refuse chemotherapy treatment for his Hodgkin's lymphoma disease. Doctors said they believe Daniel will die without the treatment.

The Hausers have said that they would prefer a less rigid chemotherapy treatment combined with other alternative treatments.

The family is Roman Catholic and believes in the "do no harm" philosophy of the Nemenhah Band, a Missouri-based religious group that believes in natural healing methods.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.