Father Gets Custody of Abducted Girl

An Oregon man was awarded custody Tuesday of his long-lost daughter in the bizarre case of a toddler kidnapped in San Diego in 1990 and found in November in Puerto Rico by a social service worker who noted that the 9-year-old had the same birthmark and smile as the photo of the missing girl.

The disappearance of 14-month-old Crystal Anzaldi sparked one of the largest missing persons investigations in San Diego history, and the case had remained a mystery ever since.

In Puerto Rico, Judge Lilia Ortiz Puig on Tuesday awarded custody of Crystal to Jeffrey Anzaldi, who now lives in Banks, Ore. The girl has been in foster care in San Juan since being found in November at the home of Nilza Gierbolini Guzman.

The ruling had been anticipated, because Anzaldi’s custody request had the backing of the girl’s mother, his ex-wife Dorothy, who lives in Corning, Calif., near Chico.

Still, the case is not over.

Gierbolini, 35, has sought permission in a separate court to retain custody of the girl, whom she calls Sonia. Also, a federal grand jury in San Diego is considering whether to file criminal charges in the case.

Crystal disappeared while the Anzaldis and Gierbolini were living in San Diego. Gierbolini’s then-husband was in the Navy, as was Jeffrey Anzaldi.

A week ago, Gierbolini came to San Diego to testify before the grand jury and later told reporters, “I’m her mommy, she’s my daughter. I love her. I’m going ahead to get full custody of her. I had nothing to do with the kidnapping, nothing.”

In Puerto Rico, Gierbolini faces charges of falsifying Crystal’s birth certificate. Authorities were investigating a child abuse allegation against the woman when they noticed that the child had an uncanny resemblance to the girl kidnapped in San Diego in 1990. The photo was on a World Wide Web site devoted to missing children.

Crystal’s parents were reunited with her briefly last month in Puerto Rico. Anzaldi, leaving court Tuesday, said Crystal and her sister, Kendra, 10, who lives with him, had taken to each other immediately. “They really hit it off,” he said. “They act just like sisters, actually.”

Gierbolini has told authorities that she was given the child in 1990 by a bartender who said the girl’s mother had died. Her then-husband has said he did not question his wife when he returned home from sea duty and found her with a young child.

Jeffrey Anzaldi, 29, was a computer software technician and former Navy radio operator. Although there is no evidence the Anzaldis knew Gierbolini and her then-husband, police said the two couples apparently had mutual acquaintances who lived in the apartment where the Anzaldis resided when their daughter vanished. The parents have said they were asleep and awoke to find Crystal gone.

A number of other adults lived in the apartment with them, and the couple told police the doors may not have been locked when the toddler disappeared.

Crystal, who speaks Spanish, is said to be learning English rapidly and adjusting well to her new family. Authorities testified that she preferred to live with Anzaldi rather than Gierbolini.

Gierbolini, after her testimony in San Diego, expressed anger that the Anzaldis have refused to let her see Crystal: “They’re putting words in her mouth. They’re not giving her a chance to speak for herself.”