Thanks to the Problem Solvers and Rep. Ric Keller, a little girl is home at last.

A three-year diplomatic struggle to reunite a 12-year-old girl in Bangkok, Thailand, with her family in Orlando, Florida, ended in quiet triumph at Orlando International Airport. “Thank you, thank you for everything” a tearful Bunga Lichtler called out as she clutched her daughter Kanchana in her arms. “My heart is racing.”

A family photo, taken on Kho Samet, an island in the gulf of Thailand.

The Thai girl’s deep brown eyes and vibrant smile exploded as she realized her dream had come true at last. “Say thank you, Eep,” Mrs. Lichtler urged her daughter. Eep is the nickname she gave Kanchana when she was a baby. Kanchana smiled, bowed, and did as her mother asked: “Thank you.”

John Lichtler, her stepfather, had traveled 29 hours across the globe to see this moment through. “You’re a godsend,” he told me. “Thank you for everything.”

This international homecoming began with a desperate phone call from Lichtler to the Problem Solvers office. Lichtler, a long-time contractor with the federal government, had been caught in a tangle of red tape. Ironically, the government he worked for couldn’t help him.

Since 2002, Lichtler had been trying to get a U.S. visa for Kanchana. He had written letters to every government official he could think of, including First Lady Laura Bush. Nothing worked. Every time it seemed he was close to a solution, there would be more delays.

Lichtler turned to the Problem Solvers as his last resort. When I met with him in April, I remember asking him if he thought this would ever be resolved. “I’m gonna keep trying, Mike. That’s why I reached out to you,” he said. “You’re my only hope. I’m hoping you can get somebody in Washington to look at this.”

Lichtler had met his wife, Bunga, on a visit to Bangkok. They were married on September 26, 2000. He knew about Kanchana but was told she was Bunga’s brother’s child. It wasn’t until Bunga moved to Orlando that the truth came out: she broke down and told him that Kanchana was her daughter, and that the girl’s father had abandoned them.

The Problem Solvers took on the challenge of bringing this little girl home, and we contacted Rep. Ric Keller’s office. With the help of Bryan Maleouns, his chief of staff, and Eddie Arraya, a case worker in Keller’s office, Rep. Keller was able to secure the necessary documents to reunite Kanchana with her mother and their new family.

Celebrating Kanchana's homecoming: Rep. Ric Keller cuts the cake for the Lichtler family, with Eddie Arraya looking on.

John and Bunga have a daughter, Mintra Cassidy Lichtler (Mintra is Thai for flower), and a son Thailor John (“TJ”) Lichtler. Now they have Kanchana home with them, and their family is complete.

To celebrate, Rep. Keller threw a special welcome-home celebration on October 31st at his Orlando office in Kanchana’s honor. "I'm grateful this problem was brought directly to my attention by Mike Holfeld and WKMG,” Keller said. “Helping people like the Lichtler family cut through government bureaucracy and red tape is the best part of my job. Now this family will have a Thanksgiving they'll never forget, with many more to come."

Keller not only reviewed our story—he acted. His office worked around the clock to get the US Immigration and Naturalization Service to expedite the paperwork in this case. Now Kanchana will have Thanksgiving and her first Christmas at home in America.

Mike Holfeld is a reporter for WKMG Local 6 News, and a regular contributor to Seminole magazine.   S