She’s either mentally ill or in a sexual relationship with the waiter. Or both. Probably both.
She’s very foolish to announce that she has no intention of returning home. That’s clear evidence of abandonment, though I don’t know if you need grounds for divorce in sunny florida.
I’d have legal papers (and a new girlfriend) waiting for her back home, if she ever bothered to wander by.
the kids are “with friends”
THEN she left.
she probably plans on retrieving them.
The father can show up and take them home and she can do anything. He would be smart to stay out of the media, do the legal work and do what he has to do.