Bring Sean home
Supporters hold vigil for return of Goldman's son
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer
Bring Sean home. That was the consensus felt during the candlelight vigil held to raise awareness about Sean Goldman as well as other kidnapped children around the world at the Riverside Garden Park in Red Bank.

PHOTOS BY KATHY CHANG Above: Heather Morgan, of Hightstown, holds a sign expressing how she feels about the Goldman situation at the candle light vigil held to raise awareness about 9-year-old Sean Goldman's case as well as other kidnapped children around the world at the Riverside Garden Park in Red Bank on June 16. The date marked five years since David Goldman had custody of his son, Sean. Below: A sign that was displayed at the vigil.

"The support here is heart warming," said Barry Goldman, who is the father of David Goldman and the grandfather of 9-year-old Sean.

About 100 people gathered together, some holding signs reading "It's Time to Bring Sean Home" while others spoke their minds about the situation on June 16, which marked five years since Sean Goldman was taken from his father David.

Their story began five years ago and has been told through various media outlets and dignitaries including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey officials including Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg and Rep. Christopher Smith have become involved.

Currently, the case is still pending another appeal.

David Goldman, of Tinton Falls, shared his story in a letter dated Sept. 7, 2008 that he sent to local elected officials in New Jersey and to the media.

The letter is posted on the website http://bringseanhome.org, founded by Mark DeAngelis, a friend of Goldman's.

In 1999, Goldman married Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro and they had a son, Sean Goldman, in 2000. Four years later, Goldman drove Bruna, Sean and Bruna's parents to Newark Airport for a planned two-week vacation to her parent's home in Brazil.

The day they arrived in Brazil, Bruna called David telling him that their marriage was over.

"She and Sean were not returning to the U.S. and if I ever wanted contact with my son again, I would have to sign custody over to her," David wrote in the letter.

KATHY CHANG A candlelight vigil was held June 16 at the Riverside Garden Park in Red Bank to raise awareness about 9-year-old Sean Goldman's case as well as other kidnapped children. The event marked five years since David Goldman had custody of his son, Sean.

David said he never signed any papers granting Bruna custody of Sean, who was 4 years old at the time.N

ow Sean is 9 years old and David has traveled to Brazil countless times desperately fighting in the Brazilian courts under the Hague Treaty to bring his son home.

Ellie Goldman, who is David's mother, said she is grateful for all the support.

"We just want to bring Sean home," she said.

Ellie and Barry Goldman traveled to Brazil for the first time in September 2008 after learning their former daughter in-law passed away during childbirth.

"We were going to call Bruna's parents to express our condolences and went there to bring Sean home, but we never got to see him … it was devastating," said Ellie. "We miss him and love him and we can't wait to see him."

Ellie described her grandson as a happy child.

"We used to play peek-aboo and we would take him to preschool," she said.

In February, during one of the rare instances David was allowed to visit Sean, a picture was taken of the two together.

"Sean looks so much like David at that age," she said.

Ellie and Barry Goldman joined DeAngelis and others to organize the candlelight vigil.

"I have been friends with David for five years and am one of the founders of the website Bring Home Sean," he said. "I met David 10 days after they took Sean."

DeAngelis said he remembers clearly the day David told him the story.

"I was chartering his fishing boat," he said. "After, my father and I were driving home just shaking our heads and asking ourselves, 'How could someone steal a child like that?' "

DeAngelis said he talks to David everyday.

"He's tired and overwhelmed by the situation," he said. "But he is very determined and won't rest until his son comes home."

DeAngelis said David has told him visitations with his son have been difficult.

"The environment in which David gets to see Sean is not suitable, they are fortunate to have that love bond," he said.

The Mingino sisters, Kayla, 11, Isabella, 9, and Olivia, 11, of Lincroft, said they can't wait for Sean to come home.

"I was classmates with Sean at St. Leo the Great School [in Lincroft]," said Isabella, who said she remembers having an ice cream party the day before he left.

Matthew Langdon, 10, also of Lincroft, said he is best friends with Sean.

"My mom and his mom worked together," he said. "We all pray for him to come home."

Bobbie LaPlaca, director of Tinton Falls Cooperative Nursery School, said Sean had been enrolled for two years in the school.

"Every time I saw David and Sean together, they just had a tremendous bond," she said. "It's important for the visibility of the case and important that we continue to pray."

Isabel Vasso, who traveled to the vigil from Morristown, became involved in January after she saw David's story in the media.

"I became very emotional and for it to happen in New Jersey, it was close enough for me to do something," she said. Vasso said she also traveled to Washington, D.C., for a rally in support of bringing Sean home.

Heather Morgan, who traveled to the vigil from Highstown, said David's story brought her to tears.

"This is so incredibly unfair," she said.

Earlier this month, Congressman Smith proposed legislation titled "Suspension of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to Brazil," stating, "Regrettably it appears economic pressure may be the only way to persuade the world's fifth largest nation to comply with its treaty obligations regarding international child abductions."

The GSP, authorized under the Trade Act of 1974, gave Brazil duty-free benefits on $2.7 billion worth of trade in 2008 alone.

The proposed legislation, H.R. 2702, would suspend GSP with Brazil until it complies with the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, which it agreed to years ago.

David Goldman ended his letter to local elected officials and to the media with words of determination and hope.

"I have never lost hope the day would come for us to be together again. I will never give up, but I need help," he wrote.