Tregg VanZandt named Ron and Robin Ruth as defendants in the suit and accuses them of aiding his ex-wife, Misty VanZandt, in removing his daughter from the county with the intent to deny his visitation rights.
Misty VanZandt fled the state with her daughter after a divorce two years ago, allegedly violating the visitation rights of her ex-husband. According to court records, Misty VanZandt alleged that her daughter had been sexually abused during visits with her ex-husband.
In the civil suit, Tregg VanZandt alleges that the Ruths' actions have caused him to suffer damages for "loss of society and companionship with his daughter."
The lawsuit also claims that Robin Ruth has slandered Tregg VanZandt on one or more occasions "by publishing to third parties that plaintiff is a child molester or child abuser or has sexually abused his daughter." He is asking for actual and punitive damages in excess of $10,000.
VanZandt has been held in the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw since November after being apprehended in Texas in late October. The whereabouts of her 7-year-old daughter remain unknown.
