Background

Anna was born July 19 2015 in Fairfax County, Virginia. Anna’s mother Magali Urquizo Franco was a 38-year-old dentist, residing in the US on a student visa. In March of 2017 Magali’s visa was expiring and the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court awarded joint custody of Anna to both parents. The court allowed Magali to take Anna with her to Peru, and granted visitation with her father for the entire month of July and from December 24 to January 1 every year. The judge ruled that Anna’s “mother shall arrange and pay for all travel expenses relating to visitation”, and “the maternal grandmother shall travel with child” on the mandated twice-per-year visitations.

However for the next four years, Magali refused to send Anna to the US for visitation. She made various excuses, including the age of her mother, the maternal grandmother Bertha Franco Soto. Magali had assured the court that the grandmother would be capable of making the trip, and indeed Bertha Franco Soto has made several trips to visit her family in Delaware and Virginia. In 2023 Bertha Franco Soto was recorded on video dancing at a family birthday party in Stafford VA, seemingly quite spry and fit.

Single Visit

Finally in the summer of 2021, Magali agreed to allow Anna to return to the US for visitation. Due to complications, including a Peru government requirement for signed and notarized travel permission from the father, Anna’s visit was scheduled for August rather than July. Magali’s sister Marlene Urquizo Franco was to accompany Anna on her flights.

My brother and I went to Dulles airport to meet Anna and bring her home. In the arrivals area we saw Magali’s two sisters, Janeth McPeak of Stafford, VA and Monica Dobson of Middletown, DE and assumed they had come to greet Anna and take Marlene home with them. We all stood waiting for passengers to clear customs. The moment when Anna came through the customs doors and immediately ran and jumped up for me to catch her as she wrapped her arms around me in a hug was a happy, joyous reunion.

The moment did not last long. When we went to collect Anna’s luggage, Marlene indicated that Anna’s clothes were commingled with her own. Furthermore, all three sisters were under the impression that they would be taking Anna with them from the airport. I explained that the intention was for Anna to reside with me at my home for a month. I suggested that Anna’s stay could be extended to allow the aunts to visit with her, and I offered my permission for Anna to visit the US-based aunts and stay with exclusively them any other times her mother allowed. My brother and I attempted to explain and negotiate with the three women for over an hour to no avail. Eventually, after 1:00 AM, we had to get the police involved, who after separating everyone and seeing the court’s visitation order allowed Anna to go home with her father.

Anna’s Visitation

I had already prepared a room for Anna and had taken a court-approved parenting class. As we did not have Anna’s luggage, my brother and I took Anna to the store to buy her clothes, hairbrushes, and other supplies. Anna selected her wardrobe in the little girls’ department

Anna stayed with me for a month. It was wonderful to be reunited with my daughter and we tried to make the most of our time together. We travelled to the mountains, went canoeing, visited museums, parks, caverns, went skiing at Big Snow indoor ski facility in New Jersey, and went to stay with my mother for three days. We also taught Anna to swim in my neighbor’s pool. Throughout her visit, the only times Anna showed signs of significant unhappiness was when she spoke with her mother, Magali, on the phone. Magali repeatedly told Anna that if she had gone home with her aunts she would have gone to Disney World. During one conversation Magali told Anna to pack her clothes and go outside to wait for someone to pick her up, and she attempted to do so. Magali called the local Fairfax County police at least six times, forcing them to repeatedly come to my house to conduct a welfare check.

Because the Virginia school year was starting, I took Anna for a reading assessment and enrolled her in elementary school, which she attended for one week and enjoyed. I also took her to my orthodontist, who recommended she come back in a couple years for reassessment and treatment.

Return to Peru

Upon the advice of my attorney who warned that if Anna returned to Peru I would never see her again, I filed an emergency custody motion and a motion to modify custody, but the court ruled that Anna should to return to Peru. At the hearing, held on a Friday morning, the judge ordered Magali to purchase a flight directly to Peru, leaving on the next day. The judge specifically ordered that there would be no side trips to Disney or other detours. Despite those clear instructions, Janeth, Monica, and Marlene, with all their children in tow, took Anna to Kings Dominion the next day, having booked her flight for the following Monday and with a long layover in Miami.

Custody Award and criminal charges

Magali subsequently refused to send Anna to visit for Christmas 2021 and for her summer visit in July 2022. Magali told me on the phone and in email that Anna would never live with me, and would never love me. Magali also threatened to interfere with my employment and government security clearance.

In July of 2022 after numerous hearings and delays, the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court awarded full legal and physical custody of Anna to me. The judge noted it was one of the most egregious cases she had ever seen. The court also ordered Magali to pay part of my legal fees. When Magali refused to comply with the order to return Anna, the Commonwealth of Virginia issued a felony child abduction warrant.

Magali’s accident

In 2022, Magali apparently experienced a traumatic brain injury in an auto accident. Her family did not disclose this to me and I only discovered it through an Internet search which uncovered newspaper articles from Peru describing the accident.

In January 2023, I discovered that Monica Dobson initiated a GoFundMe fundraising appeal for Magali. In the text of the appeal, Monica stated: “We hope someday that Magali can resume raising her young daughter and caring for herself again.” It is noteworthy that Magali did not have legal custody of Anna and hence had no right to “resume” raising Anna. The court ruling only permitted Magali to have supervised visitation, and only within the state of Virginia. Monica’s husband Michael Dobson donated to the fundraiser also.

Grandmother and protective order

In 2024, the FBI alerted me that Anna’s grandmother in Peru, Bertha Franco Soto, had initiated legal proceedings in Peru to obtain guardianship of Anna. The grandmother claimed that Magali was incapacitated and she (Bertha) was caring for Anna. The FBI also informed me that Magali had obtained some sort of protective order against me in Peru, having made false allegations that I had “abused” Anna while she was in the US.

Death

In January 2025, the FBI informed me that they had received a death certificate for Magali in response to a documents request. Internet research revealed Magali had indeed passed away on December 14, 2024.

Curiously, Magali’s family did not communicate with me about her death or Anna’s status.

Hague Convention

On the recommendation of the US Department of State Office of Children’s Issues, I filed an application seeking custody of Anna under the Hague Abduction Convention. The State Department forwarded my application to the Peruvian Central Authority. However, the Peruvian Central Authority declined to take action, stating that given the time Anna had been living in Peru it was her habitual residence.

Remote location

Anna is reportedly in Andahuaylas, a remote region of the Andes for which the U.S. Department of State had issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory due to drug trafficking, criminal activity, and terrorism. Thus, I have not been able to visit Anna, nor are representatives of the Embassy permitted to travel to her to check on her welfare. Additionally, lawyers have strongly advised me not to set foot in Peru at the risk of criminal and/or civil action.

Sighting

In July 2024 Monica Dobson, Anna's aunt in Delaware, uploaded a recent photo of herself with Anna in Cusco, Peru. The location of the photo is approximately 5.5 hours by car or 6 hours by bus from where Anna is purportedly living.

Anna’s grandmother, Bertha Franco Soto, and Monica Dobson frequently travel back and forth between Peru and Delaware and Virginia. Anna likely has a Peruvian passport. Thus it is conceivable that Anna’s familly could bring her to the US without informing me.

Marlene

Last year, the FBI informed me that Marlene has filed for custody of Anna in Peru. Nevertheless, it appears that Marlene and her grandmother are in violation of 18 US Code Section 1204, which states "Whoever removes a child from the United States, or attempts to do so, or retains a child (who has been in the United States) outside the United States with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 3 years, or both."