It was the late 1970s, and Joanne Connelly was a recent high school graduate working at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Raised on a steady diet of Disney films and fairytales, the young woman was eagerly waiting for a prince to come into her life.
Judas Montejo was a radiology resident from Colombia who arrived to study at the hospital on a temporary visa. He was attractive, with a boyish charm and a Latin American accent that set hearts fluttering along the hospital corridors. When he set his sights on Joanne, she fell for him quickly. He took her to visit his parents in Bogotá, Colombia, and eventually the two married.
Slowly, Judas's true motives became clear. A clinically diagnosed malignant narcissist, Judas was interested in one thing-the US citizenship he could secure through marriage. He would turn Joanne's fairy-tale life into a nightmare, eventually abducting their child and leaving her, alone and terrified, amid the violence of the Colombian drug wars.
Based on true events in Connelly's own life, Hidden Scars of a Precious Birthright is a tale of one woman's struggle to reclaim her child and her rights in a foreign land-and a testimony to resilience and unwavering faith.
About the Author: Joanne Marie Connelly grew up in Philadelphia in the 1960s. Her Catholic school education and sheltered life during her early developmental years left her vulnerable to the events she would later experience.
After attending technical school, she received a medical secretarial diploma, but she owes most of her education to the School of Hardnox. While in Colombia, she studied Spanish and attended family law classes for three years as an unregistered guest at a Bogotá law school.
Over the years, Joanne has worked in hospital, her own small businesses, and in the offices of national and international trucking, petroleum, chemical, natural gas, and methanol companies. She is a devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, cousin, and friend who wrote Hidden Scars of a Precious Birthright to leave a legacy of her experiences and perspective.
