Dad charged with murdering mom, abducting kids in 2008; kids found safe and reunited with family but Dad still missing (Chicago, Illinois)

Dad BENITO CASANOVA is wanted in the murder of his wife, the mother of his three children, and the subsequent abduction of the children. Like a lot of "allegedly" murdering/abducting dads, he dumped the kids on someone else--in this case, with his mother in Mexico--so they have been recovered. Once again, we see that father-child togetherness doesn't even rank as a secondary motive in these cases. It's pure control/abuse.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mexico-kids-found-06sep06,0,3604819,print.story

3 Chicago children taken by father to Mexico are back with relatives
Authorities still seek Benito Casanova, who is charged in the 2008 death of his kids' mother, Sofia Garcia
By Kristen Mack

Tribune reporter

September 6, 2009

Three children missing since their mother was killed on the Northwest Side last year spent Saturday reunited with family in Chicago after they were found in Mexico this summer.

Benito Casanova, who is charged with abducting his three children and murdering their mother, Sofia Garcia, is still at large.

The Casanova children -- Fernando, 12; Karla, 8; and Oscar, 7 -- were located this summer after a tipster alerted Mexican authorities that they were at the home of Casanova's mother.

All three are reported to be in good health, FBI spokesman Ross Rice said Saturday.

They were flown back from Mexico City on Friday, Chicago police said.

The children were waiting for clearances from Immigration officials and child protective services before coming back home.

Garcia, 30, was found hanged with a plastic bag over her head April 21, 2008, in a closet in her Humboldt Park home in the 1700 block of North Harding Avenue.

A few days after the killing, a security video recording from an Arkansas gas station showed Casanova and the children going into a store and buying items.