In what was supposed to be a festive holiday trip, 12-year-old Nicolas Marcel Santin, a male with brown hair and hazel eyes, disappeared from Steelton, Pennsylvania. His mother, Simone Santin, gave his maternal grandfather, Andres Santin, permission to take him to visit relatives in El Salvador for Christmas in 2005. They departed on December 17, 2005, in a white 1995 Geo Metro. The last time Simone spoke with her son was two days later, on December 19. Nicolas was last seen on December 15, 2005, and has not been heard from since. At the time of his disappearance, he was five feet three inches tall and weighed 125 pounds.
The journey that began with holiday cheer soon took a troubling turn. The last confirmed sighting of Nicolas and his grandfather was on December 21, 2005, as they crossed the border from Mexico into Guatemala. While they were expected to continue to El Salvador, family members there reported that they never arrived, and there are no official records of them entering the country. As concern mounted, the focus of the investigation shifted. On February 9, 2006, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a federal warrant for Andres Santin for international parental kidnapping. Authorities believe they may have traveled to El Salvador, Guatemala, or Mexico. There is also a possibility they could be in New York.
The case of Nicolas Santin remains an unsolved and distressing mystery. Andres Santin is considered a suspect by the FBI, and caution is advised when approaching him. He is known to use several aliases, including the first name Jose and the last names Gonzalez, Ortiz, or Arguera, and may use various dates of birth. At the time of the events, Andres was a 62-year-old diabetic who had lived in the United States for over four decades and spoke both English and Spanish. The vehicle they were traveling in was a white 1995 Geo Metro with Pennsylvania license plates GCJ2922. The disappearance has been classified as a family abduction, a painful situation where a child is taken by a family member without the consent of the custodial parent. Years have passed without any concrete leads, leaving a mother to wonder what happened to her son and father on their planned holiday trip.
Last Seen: Dec 15, 2005
