The worst laid plans of mice and men
Aug. 25th, 2004 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lederhosenMost of the Aussies here will already have heard all about this, but I thought the rest of y'all might find this story... interesting. I don't think I'm spoiling it if I mention in advance that the baby is now safely back with her parents.
On August 7th, Anita Ciancio was at a Melbourne mall. She'd just placed her three-week-old daughter Montano in her baby capsule, and was loading her groceries into the car, when two people happened by.
Allegedly - I believe they've confessed, but it's still in the courts, so take the next bit as 'allegedly' - Mark and Cheryl McEachran were unhappy at their inability to have another baby, and Cheryl was jealous that her own daughter was now old enough to have a baby of her own.
So, on the spur of the moment, they decided to kidnap Montano. Mark attacked Ms. Ciancio, punching her and spraying perfume in her eyes, while Cheryl grabbed the baby, and they ran off.
This sort of thing is unusual in Australia, and triggered a police hunt and a lot of media coverage. It soon became public knowledge that the kidnappers had made two tactical errors.
One: they had been filmed by the mall's security cameras, and their photos were soon all over the papers and TV.
Two: Anita's husband and Montano's father, Joe Barbaro, was part of a well-known Melbourne crime family, some of whom made comments indicating their unhappiness with
Forty hours after the kidnapping, a jogger heard a baby crying in a derelict house; police broke in to find Montano. It appears the McEachrans had been panicked by the media coverage, and abandoned her; they turned themselves in later the same day, apparently having decided police custody might be good for their health.
But there was one more loose end... Joe Barbaro had been surprisingly reluctant to go on TV appealing for his baby's return, even to the point of taking a swing at one cameraman. Well, it turned out that he had good reason - namely his fiancée Tanya in Canberra, and their two children.
This really needs to be made into a bad telemovie. Or perhaps a Coen Brothers flick.
Edit: And now, it seems, Tanya's boyfriend in Canberra was surprised to hear that she was engaged to Mr. Barbaro. And she's claiming they were no longer engaged, as of two years ago when she found out about the relationship with Anita, but that he had promised to 'reunite their family', and she was unaware of his children with Anita. I wonder if anybody is telling the truth here?
On August 7th, Anita Ciancio was at a Melbourne mall. She'd just placed her three-week-old daughter Montano in her baby capsule, and was loading her groceries into the car, when two people happened by.
Allegedly - I believe they've confessed, but it's still in the courts, so take the next bit as 'allegedly' - Mark and Cheryl McEachran were unhappy at their inability to have another baby, and Cheryl was jealous that her own daughter was now old enough to have a baby of her own.
So, on the spur of the moment, they decided to kidnap Montano. Mark attacked Ms. Ciancio, punching her and spraying perfume in her eyes, while Cheryl grabbed the baby, and they ran off.
This sort of thing is unusual in Australia, and triggered a police hunt and a lot of media coverage. It soon became public knowledge that the kidnappers had made two tactical errors.
One: they had been filmed by the mall's security cameras, and their photos were soon all over the papers and TV.
Two: Anita's husband and Montano's father, Joe Barbaro, was part of a well-known Melbourne crime family, some of whom made comments indicating their unhappiness with
Forty hours after the kidnapping, a jogger heard a baby crying in a derelict house; police broke in to find Montano. It appears the McEachrans had been panicked by the media coverage, and abandoned her; they turned themselves in later the same day, apparently having decided police custody might be good for their health.
But there was one more loose end... Joe Barbaro had been surprisingly reluctant to go on TV appealing for his baby's return, even to the point of taking a swing at one cameraman. Well, it turned out that he had good reason - namely his fiancée Tanya in Canberra, and their two children.
This really needs to be made into a bad telemovie. Or perhaps a Coen Brothers flick.
Edit: And now, it seems, Tanya's boyfriend in Canberra was surprised to hear that she was engaged to Mr. Barbaro. And she's claiming they were no longer engaged, as of two years ago when she found out about the relationship with Anita, but that he had promised to 'reunite their family', and she was unaware of his children with Anita. I wonder if anybody is telling the truth here?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:13 pm (UTC)Okay, I'm trying to be open-minded about Other People's Cultural Wossnames, but... *shakes head*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:19 pm (UTC)Montano's sibling is named 'Sienna', and one of the kids in Canberra is 'Letesha'.
*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:33 pm (UTC)If it had been MontanA I wouldn't've batted an eyelash - such names are increasingly common here (Montana, Dakota, Nevada, Sierra, Savannah, etc.)
*shudder*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 08:58 am (UTC)I can't understand naming a child after a point on the compass. Especially since she has a very pretty first name in Annemarie.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 08:31 am (UTC)