Father Is Arrested in Abduction of Daughter

A bail hearing for Carlo Ventre, who was arrested by FBI agents on suspicion of abducting his daughter and taking her to Italy, is set for Wednesday.

Ventre was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday after arriving on a flight from Milan, authorities said.

A separate hearing on the issue of the girl’s custody will be held Thursday. The child’s mother was found dead in Ventre’s apartment in Italy, and her maternal grandparents are vying for custody.

This tangled tale of custody and death began in 1996, not long after the girl, Santina, was born.

Her mother, Toni Dykstra, then spent several years fighting for custody. Despite death threats she said she received from Ventre--Santina’s father--she successfully battled her way through family court in Los Angeles.

When Ventre fled with Santina to Italy, Dykstra went after them. But a week after an Italian tribunal awarded her custody, Rome police found Dykstra’s body in Ventre’s apartment.

Ventre said he killed Dykstra, 29, in self-defense. He has never been prosecuted in connection with the killing, and the case remains under investigation by Italian authorities.

After Dykstra’s death, an Italian court turned Santina over to Italian foster parents, where she lived for a year and a half.

Last month, an Italian court ruled that her custody battle should be decided by authorities in Los Angeles, not Rome.

Her grandparents were awarded temporary custody.

Ventre’s attorney, who could not be reached for comment, then filed for custody in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“This case has shades of O.J. Simpson in it,” said Gloria Allred, the Dykstra family attorney.

“The child is doing very well with the grandparents. I don’t think Ventre should be rewarded for all of his wrongful acts.”