Father hires private investigator to find son after winning custody in court

The single dad says his world fell apart when his fiance and son disappeared without warning last fall.

A Gwinnett County child once on the national missing and endangered children’s list returned home Tuesday.

Roberto Vasquez told Channel 2 Action News he hired lawyers, convinced judges in three states his former fiancee moved around frequently and he deserved custody of their son, Kayden. But after winning the custody battle last fall, the boy’s mother absconded with him.

“We didn’t have any idea whether he was alive, whether he was OK, whether he was fed,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez and then spent thousands of dollars trying to track down his son.

Roberto Vasquez (right) with son Kayden (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

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He hired private investigator Robin Martinelli, who found Vasquez's son in Arizona. The team that found him spent days convincing authorities to give Vasquez his son.

“We did everything the police told us to do, but the police didn’t act, so we had to act,” Martinelli said. “We got on a plane.”

Martinelli  told Channel 2 her job is to bring people back together.

“My industry is not all about being in the woods and sneaking around and cheating spouses,” she said. “My industry is also about making a life come home.”

Vasquez said it feels as if he and his son had never been apart.

“To finally have him is one of the greatest feelings that I can ever imagine,” he said.

Vasquez’s lawyer said he expects the child’s mother to come back to Georgia and take the issue back to court.

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