Woman Who Abducted San Diego Girl to Ask for Permanent Custody

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico — A woman accused of pretending to be the mother of a San Diego girl abducted in 1990 now plans to ask for permanent custody of the child.

Nilsa Gierbolini emerged in tears Friday from a court hearing on charges that she abused Crystal Leann Anzaldi, now 8, who was reported missing from her home when she was 14 months old.

“I didn’t have the chance to explain that the girl wasn’t mistreated,” Gierbolini was heard saying between sobs as she left the courtroom.

There was no other evidence of the result of the hearing, which was held behind closed doors at the order of Judge Lilia Ortiz.

Despite their client’s distress, lawyers Erik Rosado and Jose Sanchez said they were satisfied with the hearing and planned to file a court action asking that Gierbolini to be given custody of Crystal.

The girl’s natural parents, Jeffrey and Dorothy Anzaldi, who divorced last year, are also seeking custody of the girl. She is in a foster home.

It was the child abuse charges against Gierbolini that led investigators to discover that Crystal was not Gierbolini’s daughter. Gierbolini, 35, faces separate charges of falsifying birth records.

Gierbolini’s family has been unable to raise the $150,000 bail and she remains in jail.

She lived in San Diego at the time of Crystal’s disappearance, but the details of how the girl ended up in her custody are murky. Gierbolini said someone left the girl in her care and never returned for her. The Anzaldis have said they did not know Gierbolini.