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There She Grows

Almost two years ago, I posted about Nicolas Fransisco, an e-aquaintance who vanished unexpectedly one night. Leaving his two kids, pregnant wife, countless concerned friends and an entire community desperately searching for him to no avail.

Everyone was convinced of foul play. Friends and strangers country-wide took interest in the search; the unprecedented public outcry and internet buzz pushed the investigation far further than a typical missing person case. Even I received a phone call at home from a Sea-Tac detective with questions, and I had never even met the guy! I told them the same thing everyone else did: I felt fairly certain he hadn’t simply left on his own accord, but I didn’t have any helpful info.

Well, weren’t we all a bunch of chumps. After 2 years he has been found, living under an alias right here in LA, with seemingly no regard whatsoever for the three children he left behind. Check out this video. So there you have it, folks. Case closed.

The reason I posted about this, back then and now, is because as a wife and mother this had an emotional impact on me. Back when he was presumed kidnapped and possibly dead, it was horrifying to think what his wife was going through. I couldn’t help putting myself in her shoes, imagining a day Mike simply didn’t make it home from work, and the sickening fear and worry that would grow as days turned into weeks and months. Unthinkable.

Now that the totally unbelievable has actually proven true, I find myself once again caught up in thinking about his kids perspective, particularly his daughter. When he “vanished” she was 2 and a half, the same age Lil is now. I remember how sad I felt when his wife told reporters his daughter was asking for him every day… and of course, she still is wondering. She was old enough to remember him, have a real relationship with him, and miss him. And at 5 she’s well old enough to be utterly heartbroken to learn he has no interest to see them again, let alone participate in their care even from afar. I wonder what his ex-wife will tell those kids about what really happened to daddy. The old ‘hit by a train line’ from O Brother? Or the far worse truth.

Despite his blank demeanor, I’m willing to assume he’s going through some serious turmoil we can’t possibly understand. Update: Here’s another video clip with more of his explanation, making his mental instability more clear. While I find it hard to feel sympathy for him, that last clip is an eerie reminder that even the seemingly happiest of people could be so full of troubled angst right below the surface, and capable of things you wouldn’t think possible. Maybe it doesn’t take much to flip a switch, make a person break down and just completely lose it. And I know this is by no means the first case of a dad walking out on their kids, nor will it be the last by any stretch of the imagination. Whatever their reasons might be.