It’s a terrifying story that is all too common. A mother, whose name has not been released, alleges her husband, Faustino Utrera, abducted their then three year old daughter and two year old son and disappeared, telling her she would never see them again.
For fifteen years it looked like he would be right.
Then, on a whim, she searched for her daughter’s name on Facebook. And, just like that, she found her. The now teenager was living in Central Florida. After “friending” each other, the two engaged in a Facebook messaging conversation and confirmed that they were, in fact, mother and daughter. Then she contacted the authorities.
“We did some additional investigation until we located Mr. Utrera and the children in Florida,” San Bernadino District Attorney Kurt Rowley told Orlando’s WESH-TV.
Utrera has been arrested and the children are in custody of Florida Department of Children and Families. The children have been reunited with their mother, and they will return to California with her. DCF staffer Carrie Hoeppner believes that the transition may not be as easy for the kids as their mom might hope.
“There is no relationship there,” Hoeppner told WESH-TV. “You don’t have that immediate joyful reunification. If in fact that is what will progress, it will take time. These children will have to build a relationship, and that is something that will not happen overnight.”
It’s no surprise that things will be complicated for these children, raised by one parent while another was out there, desperately searching for them, but hopefully their mother’s determination to have her children back will see them through.
