Mother of missing kids: 'I will wait for them always'

Associated Press:

The mother of two young children missing from a home where their grandparents and an uncle were found slain said Tuesday that she believes the children's father is capable of hurting them.

Authorities believe the children are with their father, Rodrigo Cervantes Zavala, who may have headed toward Mexico. Their mother said she's hoping someone in Mexico or Arizona will help authorities find them.

"Mom loves you and is waiting and I will wait for them always," Oneida Isabel Acosta said through an interpreter.

She said if they were returned she would buy her daughter a backpack and a DVD and give her son many hugs and kisses.

Acosta's brother-in-law, Gabriel Castro, said Cervantes Zavala had threatened the family in the past.

"His threat was something along the lines of 'I will kill your whole family and leave you alive to suffer the loss of your family,' " Castro said.

Authorities have been searching for Cervantes Zavala since Monday, when his two children, 18-month-old Bryan Cervantes and 3-year-old Jennifer Cervantes, were discovered missing a few hours after the bodies of their mother's parents and brother were found.

"I know that they didn't let him take my children," Acosta said.

Cervantes Zavala has been described as an "investigative lead" rather than a suspect.

Maricopa County sheriff's officials said Cervantes Zavala had moved out of his own residence before the disappearances. Authorities found nothing when they searched his home in Phoenix on Monday, sheriff's spokeswoman Kip Rustenburg said.

Neighbors said they last saw him there Saturday evening, Rustenburg said.

Doug Matteson, another sheriff's spokesman, said authorities haven't determined if Cervantes Zavala was definitely headed for Mexico.

"We can't rule out that he's still here or went to another state," Matteson said.

Acosta said Cervantes Zavala has family in Mexico but she doesn't believe he would go to them.

Acosta had lived at the home that was searched with Cervantes Zavala until leaving him a few months ago. She had been living with her parents most recently.

She had taken out an order of protection against him in March.

Castro said he believes the threats were prompted by Cervantes Zavala's separation from Acosta. "When she left him, I think that's when it started," he said.

He said the rest of the family is concerned that Cervantes Zavala will come back or send someone to harm the rest of the family.

Matteson said Cervantes Zavala had been arrested last year on burglary and firearms charges.

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