Their disappearance followed a bitter custody battle between their parents that has taken turns toward the bizarre. Under court order to help locate their children, both parents say they don’t know where Samantha and Gianna are now. Police say they have followed up on every tip they’ve received. The mother is considered a “person of interest” in the case.
Their parents’ first divorce was vacated after a judge said it was based on a fraud. The mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, then accused the father, David Rucki, of abusing her and their children; Rucki said his ex-wife brainwashed the children to make up the allegations.
During one hearing, Grazzini-Rucki’s attorney, Michelle MacDonald, was handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies to a wheelchair.
About three weeks after the girls disappeared, they appeared on a local TV news show and said they ran away because they were afraid of their father. That was the last time they were seen in public.
Since the sisters went missing, they have been reported to be in at least half a dozen states, from California to Connecticut.