Table of Contents
To all the children and families who suffer every moment of every day from the tragic separation caused by child abduction. May they stay strong, believe, and be brought back into each others loving arms.
The Phone Call
A TWO-WEEK TRIPTHATS ALL IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. TWO weeks. I didnt relish the idea of being apart from my wife, Bruna, and our four-year-old son, Sean, not even for two weeks, but it was unavoidable. I had to work. I can handle it, I kept reminding myself. After all, I had clients scheduled aboard my charter fishing boat during the first week my wife and son would be gone. After that, I planned to join Bruna and Sean for the latter part of their vacation in Brazil, my wifes birthplace. In a few days wed be back together as a family again.
I loaded the suitcasesthere were more than the usual number of theminto my Jeep Cherokee SUV, along with Brunas parents luggage. Although citizens of Brazil, my in-laws, Raimundo and Silvana Ribeiro, owned a condominium in New Jersey, and visited often, sometimes for a month or two at a time. The night before, we had attended a local carnival sponsored by St. Leos Church, and Brunas parents had been at our home the day of the trip, after going out to lunch with my parents. Everyone got along as usual, two happy families united as one, with no tension among any of us and never a cross word between us. Now Seans maternal grandfather, Raimundoor Ray, as he was known in the United Statesand his grandmother, Silvana, were returning to Brazil with Bruna and Sean.
It wasnt the first time during our four-year marriage that Bruna had visited her homeland. She and I had traveled to Brazil before Sean was born. Bruna took great pleasure in spending time with her friends in her old stomping grounds. I enjoyed surfing off the beautiful beaches of Barra, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. We both savored Brazils barbecues and delicious mangoes. Bruna took Sean to visit our extended family a few months after his birth, and had made the trip by herself for her grandmothers funeral a few years earlier. More recently, in March 2004, she and a friend and fellow teacher at the school where Bruna taught went to Brazil during the schools spring break. So it didnt strike me as unusual for us to plan a trip during the summer, after Bruna completed her teaching responsibilities for the 2004 spring semester. We usually traveled as a family to Brazil twice a year, once during Brunas winter break and once during the summer. Just as any couple whose family members live in different locations, we made special efforts to enjoy time together with all of our relatives, especially after Sean was born. Although Rio was a dangerous place, as Bruna and her parents often reminded me, it was still her hometown in her native land and it was beautiful. We wanted Sean to be familiar with both cultures, and to know that he was a part of something much bigger than himself.
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2004, I drove the family to Newarks Liberty International Airport to begin their vacation. Under Brazilian law, when any one parent travels alone with a child to Brazil, the other parent or guardian is required to sign a letter of authorization. So before the trip, as part of normal procedures, I signed the release authorizing Bruna to take Sean out of the country for a limited period of time.
Since I was going to see the two of them in a week or so, I didnt think much of it at the time. Besides, I was busy planning Brunas thirtieth birthday party. As a surprise present for her, I hoped to have our kitchen redone while she was out of the country. I was also working on an itinerary for another family trip to Turnberry Isle in Floridaone that would include Brunas mom and dadto celebrate her birthday in mid-August after we had all returned from Brazil. Ordinarily when we vacationed together, I made the arrangements. Having traveled as much as I had over the years, I found it easy to book all the family members flights and hotels, and handle all the other details myself. But this time, Brunas mom kept protesting, saying, Oh, we can take care of that from Brazil. This struck me as odd, but I thought, Okay, fine. Well make the arrangements from Brazil.
At the airport, after I got Sean comfortably situated in his stroller, I helped carry Brunas, Seans, and my in-laws suitcases into the busy Newark terminal. I assisted in getting all the suitcases checked in, then walked Bruna and Sean to the security area in front of the Jetway leading to their flight. With passengers bustling all around us, I kissed Bruna and Sean good-bye and embraced Brunas parents.
I watched as my family went through the initial identification checkpoint and started down the hallway toward their flight. Then, as we always did when one of us was traveling, Bruna and Sean stopped and turned toward me, and we used sign language for our final good-bye. I pointed to my eye, my heart, and then to Bruna and Sean, and mouthed the words I love you. Bruna and Sean pointed to their eyes, their hearts, and then back at me: I love you. Bruna turned and followed her parents down the Jetway, toward the security metal detector, pushing Sean in the stroller as she went. I watched them until I could no longer see them, and waited a few minutes longer in case they had forgotten anything or there was a last-minute flight cancellation. Then I returned to our vehicle and headed back to our home in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. It was going to be a long, lonely night.
IN MANY WAYS, ours had been a storybook romance. I met Bruna Bianchi Ribeiro in 1997 in Milan, Italy, where I was working as a fashion model and she was studying fashion. We moved back to New Jersey, where we married in 1999, and in May 2000, Bruna gave birth to Sean. We had a beautiful marriage, an ideal little family; it was perfect in every way, and we were head over heels in love.
At least so I thought.
THE DAY AFTER their flight, Bruna called from Brazil to let me know that she and the family had arrived safely. Sean is so excited, she gushed. Hes eating mangoes and he just loves it here.
Brunas unusual emphasis on how happy Sean was to be back in Brazil seemed a bit over the top, but I was glad my wife and son were safe and sound and already enjoying their vacation. We talked briefly, then said our I love yous and our good-byes.
On Sunday, June 20, Bruna called again. I could tell immediately from the tone of her voice that something was wrong, but I would not have guessed what she was about to say. Youre a great guy, David, and a wonderful father to Sean. I have no regrets about our relationship and having Sean together.
I didnt even have time to wonder where Bruna was going with this line of thought, as she continued without a pause, almost as though following a script.
Our love affair is over. Ive decided to stay in Brazil, she said. Im keeping Sean here with me.
Whooom! It was as though the earth had suddenly dropped out from under me, and I was hanging in midair. Brunas brusque, curt words seared into my heart and mind. What? What! What are you talking about, Bruna? I could not believe what I was hearing. Our love affair? What about our marriage? The tone of voice with which she said those words to me was one I had never before heard from her. She sounded cold, calculating, and unemotionalnot at all like the upbeat, vivacious, passionate woman to whom I was married.
