Iona is still in hiding because she’s afraid her ex-con stepson, George Costello Jr., will come after her. She won’t return to her Southold farm out of fear of George, who along with his siblings is fighting her for their late father’s fortune. “She said, ‘I’m not looking over my shoulder all the time.’
George Costello Jr. did time for felony fraud in 2013 and is now in jail in Florida for contempt of court after a fight with his fiancée. Iona, who has a restraining order against him, knows it’s only a matter of time before he gets out. “He has threatened [Iona],” the close relative said. “I’ve known all along he’s been threatening her.”
“Emily wants to come back for school,” the relative said. For now, the teen is doing her homework from their hotel room on her laptop. Meanwhile, “They’re not just sitting in the hotel room,” the relative said. “There’s a lot going on. They’re going to art galleries, doing things. She has to keep her daughter interested.”
Iona’s phone is turned off, and she hasn’t told anyone how to reach her, the relative said. To stay in touch with her family, she phones at least one relative on a daily basis. “I’m trying to persuade them both to come back, but I don’t know if she’s going to,” the relative said. “Not until she feels safe.”
It turns out George Jr. had gotten out of prison and returned to the Long Island area. “She thought the police would tell her when he got out of jail, but they didn’t,” the relative said. “That’s why she went to New York.”
http://nypost.com/2015/04/24/mom-daughter-arent-missing-theyre-hiding-from-ex-con-in-law/