Found Alive IL - AMBER ALERT: Three Casanova Children, 6-11, Chicago, 18 April 2008

[chicoliving]

~snip~
The children are Oscar Casanova, 6, who is 4 feet tall and weighs 60 pounds with dark brown hair and brown eyes; Karla Casanova, 7, who is 4-feet 1-inch inch tall and weighs 75 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes; and Fernando Casanova, 11, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 130 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Chicago police say Benito Casanova abducted them on April 18, at 2:30 p.m. He is described as 32 years old, 6-feet 1-inch tall, 230 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

He's believed to be driving a 2002 silver/gray Dodge Dakota with Illinois license plate 86196HB.
http://cbs2chicago.com/breakingnewsa....2.705251.html

[chicoliving]

Chicago Police have issued an Amber Alert Monday afternoon for three children and their alleged abductor after the children’s mother was found dead with a plastic bag over her head in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Sophia Garcia, 30, was found with a plastic bag over her head in her home in the 1700 block of North Harding Avenue, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor said the woman was found dead about noon and an amber alert has been issued for her children, who have not been seen since Friday.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/9...042108.article

[chicoliving]

The children's pics at link now

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=6094928

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Praying for these kids. It's already been over 3 days. I hope they find them.

[chicoliving]

Amber Alert Issued for 3 Illinois Children
Posted: Monday April 21 7:16 PM CT

The Illinois State Police issued the Amber Alert on Monday afternoon after the children's mother was found murdered in their Chicago home. The children have not been seen since Friday afternoon, April 18th.

Oscar Casanova is a Hispanic male, approximately 6 years old 4 foot and weighs 60 pounds,with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Karla Casanova a white hispanic 7 year old female, who is 4foot 1 inches,and weighs 75 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Fernando Casanova is a white hispanic 11 year old boy, who is 5foot and weighs 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

The suspect is Benito O Casanova, white hispanic 32 year old male, 6 foot 1 inches, 230 pounds, with brown hair and brown eye.

The suspect vehicle is a 2002 silver/gray Dodge Dakota with Illinois license 86196HB.

Anyone with any information on this abduction is asked to call 911.

Visit http://codeamber.c.topica.com/maak5y...bHFTm1bafpLR8/ for more information

[Taximom]

Oh my, I hope he didn't kill the kids. Please let them be found soon, safe and well.

[SewingDeb]

CBS2 (link above) says he is the father of two of the children and he abducted them from school around 2:30PM. I am guessint that he just went to pick them up at the regular time. Scary!

He is probably in Mexico by now. Praying for the children's safety.

[kahskye]

Oh how I hope he doesn't do anything to these precious children. If he was capable of murdering their mom, who knows what else he's capable of.

[absinthe]

If only two were his bio children, why would he take the third?

[chicoliving]

Picture at link http://cbs2chicago.com/local/amber.a....2.705251.html

Oscar Casanova is a Hispanic male, approximately 6 years old 4 foot and weighs 60 pounds,with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

[Taximom]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352056,00.html
Mother had order of protection

The new protection order stemmed from a Valentine's Day visit in 2007, when Casanova took Garcia's keys. He denied taking them and they were returned a day later, left near a window with a note reading, 'Here are your keys. Goodbye,' the newspaper said.
Garcia later found Casanova in her home, according to court documents.
"I went into the bedroom and pulled the blanket on the bed. And he came at me. He had entered my home and hid until I returned. He chocked [sic] me telling me that he was going to KILL me because I did not want to be with him," Garcia said in court documents cited by the Sun-Times.
"He ALWAYS tells me that he IS going to KILL me if I don’t take him back, then kill himself. He said that if I go to the police, he will ‘take it out on my sisters,’" she continued. "He says he will kill me and then himself so he doesn’t go to jail. I am very, very scared.’”
The current protection order barred Casanova from having any contact with Garcia, her sisters and his three children. It also prohibited him from going near Garcia's 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass, to the children's school or to a Target store in Evanston, Ill., where Garcia worked, the Sun-Times reported. (more at link)

More at:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/9...042208.article

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Well that certainly makes things a little scarier. "He says he will kill me and then himself so he doesn’t go to jail." Well, lets just hope he leaves the poor children out of it.

[chicoliving]

~snip~

Thursday afternoon, officers said a surveillance picture shows Casanova and the children leaving a convenience store in Arkansas. They also say the recent order of protection that Garcia filed had never been served.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=6101895

[JanetElaine]

I keep thinking about these kids and hoping for updates. I am so glad at least they were seen alive. I hope it really was them.

[chicoliving]

~snip~


During an afternoon news conference, Chicago police Cmdr. Joe Salemme said security-camera video from a convenience store and gas station in Arkansas showed Benito Casanova and the three children going into the store and buying items. The children appeared fine, he said. Salemme would not say when the video was taken, where in Arkansas the family was at the time, or where in Mexico they may be, he said.

He said the arrest warrant was for child abduction and not related to Garcia's slaying.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,5280095.story

[JanetElaine]

I'm getting a bit more hopeful... the way I'm thinking is if he hasn't killed them by now he isn't going to.... I sure hope I'm right though.

[thefragile7393]

I'm hopeful too....I wonder what he would do if confronted by LE...go into a hostage situation? I hope they can be found without any harm to them.

[joe jones]

Has there been any updates as to the whereabouts of the children?

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Amber Alert remains active, but has been removed from the Code Amber ticker. Suspect and kids believed to be in Mexico.

http://www.codeamber.org/alerts.php?ID=20

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

NCMEC now says that they may be in Guerrero, Mexico.

For those that don't know (like me), Guerrero is a state in southwestern Mexico.

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

The Casanova children were found safe in July 2009. It's unclear whether their father has been arrested.
http://www.charleyproject.org/resolved.html

I can't find an article about this...still looking.

[STEADFAST]

Three children missing since April 2008 after their mother was found dead with a plastic bag over her head in her Humboldt Park neighborhood home were found safely and flown to Chicago on Friday, Chicago Police announced. Federal authorities continue to look for their father, who is wanted in their mother's murder.

Oscar, Karla and Fernando Casanova were discovered in Mexico City and were flown to Chicago on Friday, according to police.


"The children were located in Mexico, earlier this summer, and were waiting for necessary immigration and child protective services clearances before returning to Chicago," FBI spokesman Ross Rice said in a statement. "A tip from a member of the public led Mexican authorities to the residence of [Benito] Casanova's mother, were the children were found. All three are reported to be in good health."
http://www.wbbm780.com/Missing-child...ter-mo/5156367

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Thanks, Steadfast. I'm glad there was finally an article about the kids being found, and that they are safe. I hope they can get back to a somewhat normal life.