Dean Click told ABC7 in 14 years of missing his daughter he went through every emotion, but giving up on seeing Jessica again was never an option.
"I've done my share of crying; people would say when she turns 18, when she reaches majority, that she would perhaps look me up," Click said.
Click last saw then 8-year-old Jessica in 1995, while he was living as a divorced dad in Walnut Creek.
Now finally, Click received the news he has waited for -- the arrest of his ex-wife Wendy Hill in Southern California.
While relieved, Click worries about what Hill told their daughter about him.
"I've had thoughts of Jessica being told I'm dead, Jessica being told that I'm a lot of things," he said.
Jessica Click-Hill is now 22 years old. Police say she is healthy and well and lives in another state and has a good relationship with her mother. There are no allegations of abuse against Hill. Investigators believe Jessica and her mother lived in at least five states and that the girl did enroll in school.
"She was in various states throughout the nation during that time period, from 1997 all the way through 2009," Walnut Creek Police Capt. Tim Schultz said.
Click is well aware of the milestones he has missed.
"It's like a part of your life doesn't exist, you don't get to take her around the neighborhood and sell Girl Scout cookies," he said.
Because Jessica is an adult, police will not give Click her contact information. He must wait for his daughter to call him.
"I've had a lot of hope and faith, knowing there's going to come a time when we will meet again and know each other and embrace," he said.
Wendy Dawn Hill, 52, was booked into a Contra Costa County jail in Martinez early Wednesday morning on felony parental abduction charges. Hill is accused of violating a shared custody order she had with Click .
The tip about Hill's whereabouts came through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The FBI arrested Hill in Monrovia in Los Angeles County. She was then turned over to Walnut Creek police
Hill was released from jail on bail that had been reduced from $250,000 to $50,000, over the objections of prosecutors. Hill was ordered to surrender her passport. Her next court appearance is March 15.
