Mom's joy turns to anguish after finding children
Source: Agencies |
July 14, 2010, Wednesday
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PRINCE Sagala has pined for her son and daughter since her estranged husband took them and fled to Mexico 15 years ago - but she never gave up hope that she would see them again.
The Indonesian-born nursing assistant was rewarded for her faith earlier this year, when she stumbled on her daughter's Facebook page in a story that made headlines across the United States.
But in the four months since that discovery, Sagala's unbridled joy has slowly turned to anguish. The case has led to the public airing of years-old domestic allegations against Sagala - information that will likely be used in court - and her now-teenaged children want nothing to do with her.
At Sagala's sole supervised visit at a Florida library recently, her son kept his nose in a book about witches and her daughter gave terse, one-word answers to her questions, Sagala said.
"She doesn't know me, her father's in jail. I guess she does blame me for this," Sagala said of her 17-year-old daughter. "She doesn't know the truth. I told her, you can see me right now, I'm not that person like what you thought for 15 years, like what your father told you."
The children's father, Faustino Fernandez Utrera, 42, was initially held in an Osceola County, Florida jail after being arrested in May on kidnapping and child custody charges.
During a hearing on Monday, he was served with a governor's warrant from California and his bond was revoked. His Florida attorney said Utrera could be extradited to California anytime.
Sagala recounted how Utrera took the children and fled to Mexico in 1995, when they were just toddlers.
Sagala said Utrera, whom she married in 1993, had become abusive - a charge now denied by Utrera's attorney - and that she was about to seek a restraining order. Then Utrera called her at work one day to say he would take the children to the park and then to a movie. She told him they were sick and should be home early. When she returned home, they weren't there.
Several hours later, one of her husband's friends called to tell her Utrera had taken the children to his native Mexico and wasn't coming back. Sagala said she immediately called the police.
The Indonesian-born nursing assistant was rewarded for her faith earlier this year, when she stumbled on her daughter's Facebook page in a story that made headlines across the United States.
But in the four months since that discovery, Sagala's unbridled joy has slowly turned to anguish. The case has led to the public airing of years-old domestic allegations against Sagala - information that will likely be used in court - and her now-teenaged children want nothing to do with her.
At Sagala's sole supervised visit at a Florida library recently, her son kept his nose in a book about witches and her daughter gave terse, one-word answers to her questions, Sagala said.
"She doesn't know me, her father's in jail. I guess she does blame me for this," Sagala said of her 17-year-old daughter. "She doesn't know the truth. I told her, you can see me right now, I'm not that person like what you thought for 15 years, like what your father told you."
The children's father, Faustino Fernandez Utrera, 42, was initially held in an Osceola County, Florida jail after being arrested in May on kidnapping and child custody charges.
During a hearing on Monday, he was served with a governor's warrant from California and his bond was revoked. His Florida attorney said Utrera could be extradited to California anytime.
Sagala recounted how Utrera took the children and fled to Mexico in 1995, when they were just toddlers.
Sagala said Utrera, whom she married in 1993, had become abusive - a charge now denied by Utrera's attorney - and that she was about to seek a restraining order. Then Utrera called her at work one day to say he would take the children to the park and then to a movie. She told him they were sick and should be home early. When she returned home, they weren't there.
Several hours later, one of her husband's friends called to tell her Utrera had taken the children to his native Mexico and wasn't coming back. Sagala said she immediately called the police.
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