Posted on 01/04/2006 3:09:53 PM PST by NormsRevenge
MANTECA, Calif. (AP) - A husband and wife who found a dog sitter for their new puppies, but left their 10-year-old son home to care for his younger autistic brother while they celebrated the new year in Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday, police said.
Jacob Calero and his wife, Michelle De la Vega, left Calero's sons - Joshua, 10, and Jason, 5 - at their San Ramon home early Friday while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip, police said.
The children's mother, Cristina Calero, died of breast cancer in 2003 and Calero married De la Vega last year.
The maternal grandmother, Libbey Holden, said she called police after she suspected the couple had left the children behind.
"I had big concerns," Holden said Wednesday, sitting in her Manteca apartment filled with family pictures, including smiling portraits of her late daughter. "These kids are helpless."
Police said they found the children asleep in their beds Saturday night, a day after being left alone. A gas fireplace was turned on, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.
"It appears that the food and the environment were set up for them to be alone," San Ramon Police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said.
The older boy said he was instructed to not answer the front door, so officers had to use a ladder to enter the home through an unlocked sliding glass door on a second-floor balcony.
Joshua said he and his brother ate cereal for breakfast and cooked frozen dinners in the microwave for lunch and dinner. He said his dad and stepmother left Friday morning while they were asleep. They had asked him to watch his younger brother, but didn't tell him where they were staying, he said.
"They shouldn't leave us alone," Joshua said, sitting in the living room of his grandmother's apartment. "I didn't know who I could call in an emergency. Even if I called my father, he's far away, so there wouldn't be much he could do."
Joshua said the couple got each other puppies for Christmas, and went so far as to bring the pug and the poodle-Maltese mix to De la Cruz's mother before leaving town.
"I thought they loved them more than us," the boy said.
Holden said she tried calling Calero, but couldn't reach him. Worried, she consulted friends, and finally decided to call authorities.
Officers began calling Calero's cell phone Saturday, but he didn't call back until Tuesday.
They flew from Las Vegas early Wednesday and were arrested at Oakland International Airport and jailed in Contra Costa County.
The exact charges were not immediately clear. Authorities scheduled a late afternoon news conference.
Joshua said it wasn't the first time he and his brother were left home alone. Last fall, his dad and stepmother kept him out of school for a week so he could baby sit his brother while they went away.
Calero and De la Cruz are both cosmetic dentists in Santa Clara.
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Associated Press Writer Kim Curtis contributed to this story from San Francisco.
If they hadn't mentioned that this took place in California, I think I would have guessed it right off. Not only that, but I think most other people would have guessed it right too.
Those poor kids - bad enough to have lost their mother, but to be left with a callous, unfeeling SOB of a so-called fatherv and a stepmother from hell :-(
Oh for Pete's sake. Susan Smith wasn't from California, Andrea Yates wasn't from California. There are rotten parents everywhere.
So, which is it? Michelle De la Vega or Michelle De la Cruz?
My first guess was Georgia.
I have a feeling their dental licenses are in serious jeopardy.
Mine was Florida. :-)
I don't expect they'll be seeing much of dad and stepmom going forward. It won't the family court but a few hours to award custody to the grandmother. Too often kids with hopelessly irresponsible parents have nothing better among the rest of their relatives, but these little boys obviously have a caring and competent grandma who was keeping an eye on things and looking for an opportunity to get authorities involved.
Gee, I have lived in California for my whole life and I haven't, nor have I met anyone here that has left their children to go on vacation. Seems to me that I remember the one couple that left their two young boys to go on a vacation to Mexico was from Chicago. I don't know where you get the idea that most of the stories of this nature originate from California.
You're ignorant.
..not mine. My Guess; The Socialist City/Enclave of Lexington, Ky....This stinks.
Good point - nor was Diane Downs as I recall.
The grandmother, not sure which side , was on TV last night, she was not approving at all of the parents actions.
These "parents" need to lose custody , at least until they attend parenting class, and do community service at least, if not some time cleaning inmates teeth in a lockup.
"They had asked him to watch his younger brother, but didn't tell him where they were staying, he said."
?!?!?!?!?!
This makes NO SENSE. They took the dogs to grandma's, but not the kids? They didn't ask grandma (or other grandma, or step grandma) to come and stay with the kids? THEY'RE DENTISTS?
I would just love to hear their explanation for this. I'd also like to know why Grandma #1 had to "call the authorities" rather than just go on over there, which it what I, my mother, or my mother in law, would certainly do in such a situation. My dad too for that matter.
or Florida
Moral Absolutes Ping.
This is so saddening, and angering. The "parents" (and I use the term loosely) do not deserve to have custody of their children. They took more care of dogs than their own human children. This is so disgusting that I can hardly see straight. The 10 year old boy sounds so articulate - he knows his parents don't care about him. Those children need some caring parents. I hope the grandmother can take them. Totally sick.
Another indicator of the leap off into the abyss. Personal pleasure trumps responsibility, instant gratification trumps duty, me-me-me trumps natural family affection.
Freepmail me if you want on/off this pinglist.
Note: these so-called parents are worse than animals. I've seen plenty of mother animals who care much more about their offspring, and are willing to kill or die to protect them.
California is full of left wing wackos, not bad parents.
Yeah, my ex-daughter-in-law was supposed to be watching her very sick 9 yr old because my son had already taken off 3 days to care for her and left her alone! Then when my son called her on it she call Children's social services and turned him in as an abusive father. Now he's getting investigated.
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