2 Children, 5 and 12, Safe After Car Theft

The luggage and gifts had been packed into the Gallegoses’ pickup truck well before dawn Friday for their Christmas trip to Mexico.

The children were nestled asleep in the covered cab, and the “Traveling to Mexico by Car” map lay on the dash.

But as Soledad Rodrigo, 43, went into the house one last time for her purse and her husband, Hector, 36, put their other car away, the pickup and its trailer sat unattended in the dark with the engine running.

Seconds later the street was quiet; the truck and the Gallegoses’ two sons were gone.

“It’s the ugliest thing that can happen to anyone,” said Rodrigo Gallegos, 36. “As soon as I saw the truck gone, I started to run down the street to look for them, but then I thought no, why run? I won’t get anywhere. I was very frightened.”

Four hours later, as the Gallegoses and police combed the streets of Santa Ana, the two sons, Hector, 12, and Rodrigo Jr., 5, came trudging up their walkway.

They had walked two miles from Garden Grove, where the thieves had abandoned the pickup when they discovered children on board.

The boys were unharmed, but the thieves took about $2,000 in property, including a video camera, jewelry and video games. Not stolen was the luggage, a television and a white lace dress for a niece’s baptism in Mexico.

Police had no suspects, but described the thieves as young males, one with a long ponytail, the other with a shaved head.

Ironically, Rodrigo Gallegos had loaded the pickup in his driveway, which extends to the back of the house, so that nobody would detect the family preparing for their trip. He had then moved it to the street so he could put his van in the driveway.

The family was headed for Guadalupe de Jalpa, 32 hours away in the state of Guanajuato, to visit relatives.

Eldest son Hector said he woke up immediately as the truck began moving, but pretended he was asleep. His brother remained asleep throughout the ordeal.

The robbers drove to two residential locations and dropped off items from the trailer at both spots. At the second stop, they opened the shell of the pickup to discover the two boys, with Hector still feigning sleep.

The robbers soon pulled over on a residential street, and the two brothers climbed out a few minutes later. Hector recognized a local church and walked in the direction of what he hoped was a cross-street to his home.

“Rodrigo (Jr.) wasn’t scared; he didn’t even know what happened,” Hector said. “I knew what happened, and I was worried that I wouldn’t see my parents again.”

At about 7:30 a.m., the boys appeared at home.

“They ran and hugged me . . . and I thanked God because they had arrived safely,” their mother said. “I thought they would beat them up.”

Later in the morning two employees from the Adam Walsh Center in Orange arrived to comfort and counsel the Gallegoses.

“It’s traumatic for the kids to wake up and see complete strangers,” said Diane Harrison, family services counselor. “They might not feel the trauma right now, but they will later.”

Soledad Gallegos was still shaken at midday.

“You’ve cried the most you have ever cried in your life, haven’t you?” Rodrigo Gallegos asked his wife, who nodded.

“My wife doesn’t want to go to Mexico now, and I don’t blame her,” Gallegos said. “I’m calm and collected now; I just have a headache. I’m just happy to have the kids back. If they hadn’t brought the truck back, that would have been OK.”