I'm so sorry to hear this. It definitely sounds like a situation that goes far beyond your tax return. Best advise is to contact a lawyer and see if the court can locate your non-custodial parent by their tax return address, W2 or 1099 filings. I hope you and your child are reunited soon.
The IRS usually looks at court filings on custody, so I would include that. here are the IRS Tie-Breaker Rules. The parent the child lived with the longest, after that the parent with the highest AGI. Parents have more claim than any non-parent.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/IPAR/resources/help/tbrk09.html
Do these help in any way? Please let me know if you are looking for more detail on any one of these.
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