(Part 3 of 4 parts) Reuniting a family

April 25 2003

James Fuller Daily Herald Staff Writer


The worst nightmare for all parents is to have their children stolen from them and not be able to do anything about it. Every thought, every dream that follows is about getting them back.

On Thursday night, Don Anderson's nightmare ended and all the dreams became reality. His sons were back home in Vernon Hills.

"It just shows if you keep plugging along and pray and have faith, the system does work," Anderson tearfully said earlier Thursday. "Right now, they start life all over again and I get to do what I do best. Being a dad, that's what I do best in life."

Bryan was 10 and Sean was 12 when they were kidnapped by their mother, Sonia Galindo, and taken to Mexico.

The kidnapping followed a calamitous divorce in 1996. Galindo and Anderson initially shared custody, but Galindo couldn't live up to her end of the agreement. The boys missed appointments, school and church, and her violations of the divorce decree stockpiled. The courts eventually awarded Anderson sole custody, citing Galindo's documented history of poor parenting skills and erratic behavior.

That's when authorities say Galindo began an intricate slander campaign against Anderson, going so far as to file false abuse charges against him. Galindo's ever-changing accounts of the abuse met with seemingly spoon-fed testimony from Bryan, and all the charges were dropped. In defeat, Galindo kidnapped the boys and bolted to Mexico.

With the Mexican government viewing them as citizens because of Galindo's dual-citizen status, it seemed like Anderson would never get his boys back. Only 4 percent of U.S. children abducted and taken to Mexico ever return.

After 2 1/2 years and more than $200,000 of Anderson's money spent for private investigators and legal translations, and endless lobbying of foreign governments and negotiating through police and the FBI, Galindo surrendered to agents at 1 p.m. Thursday at O'Hare International Airport.

Police had agreed to lobby the courts for no jail time in exchange for Galindo's return. She faced four felony warrants for the abduction.

Now may be the beginning of a happy ending.

Galindo, a former Buffalo Grove resident, will have to go through a court process in order to see her sons again. Prosecutors will push for psychiatric counseling and supervised visitation. In the meantime, she'll live with family in Vernon Hills while out on bond.

Buffalo Grove police also will decide whether to go after the people who helped Galindo kidnap the boys and assist her while she was in Mexico.

As for the boys, now 13 and 14, their road back is longest of all. A recent conversation the boys had with their father revealed some negative feelings for him. Psychologists say they and their father must work through any falsehoods Galindo fed them while they were away. Beyond that, they have to get to know their father all over again.

Anderson said he's ready for the challenge.

He's spent the past few days shopping for all the things they love like snacks, ice cream and Fruity Pebbles. He set up the trampoline in the yard again. Their rooms are ready. The basement he converted into a recreation room specifically for their return will finally be used.

All the photos of the good times they had are on the walls. Family and old friends from their days at Daniel Wright Junior High in Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103 are on standby for when Bryan and Sean are ready to see them.

Anderson wants the boys to be able to see their mother again when she's ready and the boys fully understand what happened to them.

It will take a lot of counseling and quality time with their father before that understanding develops.

"It's been such a horrific two and a half years," Anderson said before meeting up with his sons again. "When I see them, I'm just going to want to hug them. I realize I might not get that right away. They might call me names. They might scream and yell, but that's OK. When they walk in that door, I'm here for them.
"I've got my sights set on tomorrow, the next day and six months from now," he continued. "I'm dealing with the heat of the day now, but I know it's going to be a beautiful night."